Soros Fund Management LLC is well-regarded as one of the most successful and high-profile hedge funds, largely due to its long record of performance. George Soros, the fund's high profile and politically influential founder, is considered one of the best living currency and equity investors, with a net worth estimated at over $14 billion.
Funds like Soros Fund Management are required to provide quarterly filings that state what positions the fund was holding at the end of the prior quarter. By looking at these filings, we are able to ascertain what investments, if any, acclaimed investors may have initiated in the recent past, as well as what investments they might have dropped.
Below is part 1 of a list of investments in which Soros Fund either reduced its exposure or wholly liquidated the position, according to the fund's most recently filed 13F. This filing does not include all investments and sales made by the fund, as the 13F only includes positions in U.S. equities, and not bonds, foreign market equities (unless an ADR), commodities or currencies. The positions are listed alphabetically. I have only included individual equities. The fund did also both acquire and reduce some positions in various Exchange Traded Funds.
Liquidated Positions
Google (GOOG)
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Soros Fund Management's 13F for the four quarter of 2011 listed 259,900 shares of Google, the well-known technology company with business including Internet Search, Android smartphone OS and YouTube, among others. Google has shown up multiple times in the Soros Fund Management filings, indicating that it could be more of a liquid trading vehicle for the fund than a true long-term investment. Additionally, this position may have been liquidated as part of a broader merger arbitrage technique being used by the fund, given GOOG's acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which completed during the second quarter of this year.
YPF Sociedad Anonima (YPF)
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YPF is an oil & gas refiner and marketer that operates out of Argentina. Soros Fund Management had acquired a sizable position in the energy company during 2011, which peaked at 860,255 shares at the end of 2012. YPF performed well during the start of 2012, but quickly began to taper off.
The company later spiked down considerably after Argentina announced the nationalization of the energy company. Soros Fund Management may have seen this nationalization coming, as the fund opted to eliminate its position one quarter in advance of the move. However so, the decision to sell before the start of the second quarter was rather opportune, whether or not it actually generated a profit, given the subsequent activity.
Reduced Positions
Apple (AAPL)
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Soros Fund Management's most recent 13F indicates that it owned 40,000 shares of Apple as of the end of the first quarter of 2012. The fund's prior 13F listed 95,000 shares of the technology giant, meaning that it almost nearly sixty percent
DaVita (DVA)
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Soros Fund Management also reduced its position in DVA, a specialized health services company that provides kidney dialysis services. The fund held 300,000 shares of DaVita at the end of 2011, which it reduced to 175,000 at the end of Q1 2012. DaVita spend most of the first quarter of 2012 appreciating from the mid $70s to a high of about $90. More recently, shares have declined from the high $80s to the low $80s within May.
Interoil (IOC)
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Soros Fund Management reduced its position in IOC, an Australian oil & gas refiner and marketer with assets in Papua New Guinea, from of 4,509,622 shares at the end of 2011 to 1,570,858 shares at the end of Q1 2012. This is a reduction of about two-thirds. Despite the recent trend down for oil & gas commodity prices, as well as most energy companies, IOC is actually up 26.36 percent so far in 2012 and 8.42 percent over the last month.
Medco Health (MHS)
As MHS no longer exists, there is no performance chart for MHS, above, and I instead provided the chart for Express Scripts (ESRX), which acquired it.
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Soros Fund Management held a small stake in Medco Health, which it reduced from 726,623 shares at the end of 2011 to 189,100 at the end of Q1 2012. Medco was in the process of being acquired by Express Scripts. This may indicate a merger arbitrage position by the fund. The Soros fund held 960,000 shares of ESRX at the end of the first quarter.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative and should not be construed as personalized advice as it does not take into account your specific situation or objectives.
Soros Fund Management LLC is considered one of the most successful and high-profile hedge funds, largely due to its long record of performance. George Soros, the fund's high profile and politically influential founder, is considered one of the best living currency and equity investors, with a net worth estimated at over $14 billion.
Funds like Soros Fund Management are required to provide quarterly filings that state what positions the fund was holding at the end of the prior quarter. By looking at these filings, we are able to ascertain what investments, if any, acclaimed investors may have initiated in the recent past, as well as what investments they might have dropped.
Below is part 2 of a list of investments in which Soros Fund reduced its exposure, according to the fund's most recently filed 13F. This filing does not include all investments and sales made by the fund, as the 13F only includes positions in U.S. equities, and not bonds, foreign market equities (unless an ADR), commodities or currencies. The positions are listed alphabetically. I have only included individual equities, as the fund also acquired and reduced some positions in various Exchange Traded Funds.
Because Soros Fund Management liquidated far less U.S. equity positions than it reduced, I will list those two equities first.
Reduced Positions (Part 2)
The Medicines (MDCO)
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The Soros Fund owned 250,000 shares of MDCO, a small-cap drug manufacturer, at the end of Q1 2012, having previously reported owning 1.6 million shares. Given the significance of the reduction, it is entirely possible that the fund is liquidating the position and that the fund's selling continued into Q2, though such is no certainty.
Mercury Computer (MRCY)
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Soros Fund Management reduced its position in this small-cap computer peripheral maker from 2,292,446 shares at the end of 2012 to 1,895,120 shares at the end of Q1 2012. Despite this position reduction, the fund is still one of the largest holders of MRCY shares, amounting to 6.12 percent of the company. MRCY shares have been in a state of gradual decline for the last three months. Shares in MRCY are down about 12 percent over the last month and also year-to-date.
Motorola Solutions (MSI)
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Soros Fund Management acquired a position in MSI early in 2011, as well as a position in MMI, the mobility potion of the former Motorola, which was acquired by Google (GOOG) and fully absorbed into it during Q2 of 2012. The hedge fund had reduced its position in MSI last year, but still maintained a sizable holding. At the end of 2011, Soros Fund Management reported it owned 5,152,789 shares, which it reduced to 2,878,116 shares, which would equal approximately one percent of outstanding shares. Here, like with MMI, the hedge fund may expect the entity to be acquired. MSI is down about 7.5 percent over the last month, but still up about 3.5 percent so far in 2012, having traded in a reasonably narrow trading range so far this year, especially compared to the broader market.
Wells Fargo (WFC)
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At the end of 2011, Soros Fund Management owned 1.2 million shares of WFC, one of the largest retail banks in the United States in terms of assets, lending and market valuation, but the fund reduced that position to 535,000 shares by the end of the first quarter. The hedge fund had a sizable position in WFC at this point last year, but substantially reduced its WFC shares during Q2 of 2011. This year, it reduced its WFC shares during Q1, but may have continued to sell off shares during Q2.
Though down about seven percent over the last month, WFC has held up better than most large U.S. financials during that term. Shares are still up about 15 percent since the start of the year.
Westport Innovations (WPRT)
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Soros Fund Management had developed a significant position in Westport Innovations, an Auto Parts company that provides technology that enable gasoline and/or diesel powered vehicles to convert to natural gas. The hedge fund reduced its holdings in WPRT from 3,228,063 shares at the end of 2011 to 2,995,606 shares at the end of Q1 2012. This position is still somewhat sizeable, representing around 5.5 percent of the company.
Westport has gone through a wild ride so far in 2012, appreciating approximately 50 percent during the first quarter, only to then substantially decline and now be down over 27 percent since the start of the year. Given the hedge fund's somewhat minor reduction to its position in WPRT, amounting to less than ten percent of its total position, it appears that Soros Fund Management may have merely been taking some profit at an opportune moment rather than actually exiting what appeared to be an investment for the longer term.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
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