Activist hedge fund Jana Partners recently submitted its 13f filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showing the its equity investments increased to $8,689,718,000 for the third quarter that ended September 30, 2013.
Jana Partners was founded by Barry Rosenstein who also serves as managing partner. The hedge fund acquired 22 new stocks during the quarter.
Jana Partners largest positions
Jana Partners’ largest stockholdings for third quarter include a put option of SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY), which accounts for 25.21% of its portfolio followed by Agrium Inc. (NYSE:AGU) 7.92%, Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) 7.1%, Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS) 6.49%, and URS Corp (NYSE:URS) 4.58%.
Jana Partners new acquisitions
During the period, the activist hedge fund purchased a 2,600,000 shares call option of Agrium Inc. (NYSE:AGU) worth $218,478,000,000.
Early this year, Jana Partners owned 11,199,881 shares or 7.5% stake and went activist on the company because it believed that its board failed to pursue many value creations opportunities and none of its non-management directors have any relevant distribution experience. The activist hedge fund urged the board to address five core issues including capital allocation, cost, controls, conglomerate structure, and corporate governance to generate substantial upside for the stock.
[drizzle]In October, Jana Partners reduced its stake in the company to 2.7% and explained that the decision was “in the course of managing its portfolio,” and remained convinced that the company has opportunities for substantial improvement.
Jana Partners acquired 13.5% stake or 3,777,995 shares of Outerwall Inc (NASDAQ:OUTR), the parent company of Redbox video rental kiosk. Its investment in the company is worth $138,983,000. In its 13D filing, the activist hedge fund indicated that the stock is “undervalued and represents an attractive investment opportunity,” and plans to discuss with the board of the company some strategic alternatives to boost shareholder value.
Jana Partners also purchased 8,550,834 shares of News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) (NASDAQ:NWS) class A common stock (DE) worth $137,326,000 and 1,523,430 shares of Endo Health Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:ENDP) worth $69,227,000.
In addition, the hedge fund also bought 6,423,824 shares of Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN), 400,000 shares of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), 500,000 shares of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP), and 1,313,549 shares of Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG).
Yesterday, the Treasury Department reported to Congress that the government sold some of its shares in General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) worth $1.2 billion. Give the amount of the sale, some analysts suggested that the remaining stake of the government in the automaker is about 4%.
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