Hedge fund Highfields Capital in its first quarter 13F filing reported News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) (NASDAQ:NWS) is its top holdings with over 6.21 percent of its portfolio invested in the entertainment company. SLM Corp (NASDAQ:SLM) occupies the second top position with over 6.14 percent of Highfields Capital’s portfolio invested in the financial company.
Jonathan S. Jacobson managed Highfields in its first quarter 13F filing revealed that it added 30 new stocks to its portfolio, bought more shares of 15 stocks, exited 20 stocks, while it trimmed holdings in 21 stocks. Jacobson spoke at the Ira Sohn Conference in New York last week, where he discussed a couple of short ideas.
Money managers who oversee more than $100 million in equities must file a Form 13F with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within 45 days of each quarter’s end to list their U.S.-traded stocks, options and convertible bonds.
The hedge fund’s top ten holdings constitute 43.73 percent of its overall portfolio. Highfields Capital has a market value of $11.01 billion.
Highfields Capital’s Major New Positions
The McGraw Hill Financial Inc (NYSE:MHFI) was the biggest addition to Highfields Capital’s portfolio during the first quarter. The hedge fund purchased 7,582,159 shares in the book publishing company. According to the 13F filing, McGraw-Hill represents 3.58 percent of its portfolio.
The next big addition was put in iShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF) (NYSEARCA:IWM) with over 3.43 percent of Highfields Capital’s investment held in the ETF. The hedge fund purchased 4 million shares in IWM.
Interestingly, it acquired new position in the personal computers major Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) by holding over 2.97 percent of its portfolio by acquiring 22,871,119 shares.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) is currently embroiled in a leveraged buyout deal led by founder Michael Dell to go private for $13.65 per share, a price that has upset some of the company’s largest shareholders.
Similarly Highfields Capital took new position in Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) by buying 2,500,000 shares representing 1.62 percent of its portfolio in the oil and gas refining and marketing company. Hess Corporation too is facing activism from the legendary Paul Singer.
The hedge fund also took fresh position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN). It bought 1,142,500 shares in the asset management company. This represented 1.56 percent of Highfields’s overall portfolio.
Highfields Capital’s Top Positions
The entertainment company News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) (NASDAQ:NWS) is the biggest holding of the hedge fund as of March 31. This is despite Highfields Capital selling 5,531,000 shares in NWSA during the last quarter. According to the 13F filing, the hedge fund held 22,414,300 shares in News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) (NASDAQ:NWS) representing 6.21 percent of its portfolio at the end of March quarter.
The second largest holding was credit services company SLM Corp (NASDAQ:SLM) where the hedge fund held 32,984,066 shares representing 6.14 percent of its overall portfolio. SLM Corp (NASDAQ:SLM) was the hedge fund’s second largest holding despite its selling 6,632,707 shares during the first quarter.
Its third largest holding was in the independent oil and gas company Canadian Natural Resource Ltd (NYSE:CNQ) where it held 19,544,266 shares constituting 5.7 percent of its portfolio.
Sold out positions
Highfields Capital sold out its entire stake in Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC)’s call option by selling its entire 3,900,000 shares. At the beginning of the quarter, the hedge fund held 3.22 percent in the call option of the independent oil and gas company.
Interestingly the hedge fund still holds 5.7 percent of its portfolio in Anadarko Petroleum’s normal shares.
The hedge fund sold out all its holdings of 414,625 shares in the investment brokerage company BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) where it held 0.95 percent of its portfolio at the beginning of the previous quarter.
Another major position closed was in the data storage devices company Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) where Highfields Capital sold off its entire 2,750,000 shares that represented 0.93 percent of its total portfolio at the beginning of the first quarter.
