Michael Price got his start as an investor at Mutual Series in 1974, becoming a full partner in 1982 and then the president and chairman a few years later. Shortly after Mutual Series merged with Franklin Templeton Investments, Michael Price stepped back from operations and left the company entirely in 2001 to manage his own fund. He currently has a net worth of approximately $1.3 billion.
Michael Price: new positions
Michael Price took on ten new positions last quarter, the largest being a $26 million stake in Columbia Banking System Inc (NASDAQ:COLB) followed by a $13 million stake in First Security Group Inc (NASDAQ:FSGI). Michael Price also bought shares in Universal Stainless & Alloy Products (NASDAQ:USAP), News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS) (NASDAQ:NWSA), Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) (NASDAQ:DGICB), Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. (NYSE:OEH), Astoria Financial Corp (NYSE:AF), Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ:VPHM), Dole Food Company, Inc. (NYSE:DOLE), and Charter Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CHFN).
Increased positions
Michael Price nearly tripled his stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NYSE:SFD) to $16 million, making it one of the largest stocks in his portfolio. He also increased stakes in OmniAmerican Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OABC) by 83 percent to $12 million, Cache, Inc. (NASDAQ:CACH) by 71 percent to $16.8 million, and United Financial Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBNK) by 62 percent to $1.2 million. His holdings in Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) increased 13 percent to $42 million, making it the second largest position behind Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC).
Closed out positions
Michael Price closed out 12 positions including West Bancorporation, Inc. (NASDAQ:WTBA), which had been the company’s largest holding accounting for more than 5 percent of its portfolio, 175,000 shares of Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP), and 40,000 shares in Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS). He also sold all of his stocks in the Era Group Inc (NYSE:ERA), Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN), Safeguard Scientifics, Inc (NYSE:SFE), Imation Corp. (NYSE:IMN), Prothena Corporation PLC (NASDAQ:PRTA), Energy Solutions, Ubiquiti Networks Inc (NASDAQ:UBNT), Education Management Corp (NASDAQ:EDMC), and One Liberty Properties, Inc. (NYSE:OLP).
Decreased positions
Michael Price sold off nearly all of his stock in J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP), dropping 665,000 shares and reducing it from 1.5 percent to just 0.21 percent of the total portfolio. He also sold three quarters of its stock in Kemper Corp (NYSE:UTR) and two-thirds of its holdings in PLX Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLXT). Michael Price sold 48 percent of its holdings in Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) down to just $20 million. Citigroup had been one of his largest positions.