Actavis plc (ACT), Time Warner Inc (TWX), Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (CP): Billionaire Daniel Och’s Top Picks

Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management is among the investment management firms required to disclose their long equity positions once per quarter. Recently, the fund made public its holdings as of June 30, 2014. Its portfolio, worth more than $33.5 billion, includes equities from almost every sector of the economy. Following the purchase of 159 new holdings, 115 additional acquisitions, and 128 closed positions, the fund’s largest bets were placed on Actavis plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:ACT), Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP) and Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX). In this article we will take a closer look into these positions.

Actavis plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:ACT) is a $60 billion market cap specialty pharmaceutical company that escalated from the fourth spot in last quarter’s list, to the first place in this quarter’s rank, after OZ Management boosted its exposure by 21%. The fund now owns 3.18 million ordinary shares, worth more than $709 million.

Och-Ziff Capital Management

Over a month ago, Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT) announced the acquisition of Forest Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:FRX) in a cash and equity transaction valued at roughly $28 billion. This purchase will considerably expand and diversify the company’s branded drug portfolio, and generate important cost synergies.

According to our database, OZ Management is the largest Actavis plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:ACT) hedge fund stockholder, trailed by Barry Rosenstein’s Jana Partners, Dan Loeb’s Third Point and Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital. These funds own 2.65 million, 2.5 million, and 2.47 million shares of the company, respectively.

Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP) also ascended in Mr. Och’s list over the second quarter, from the sixth spot to the second place. This $34.77 billion market cap rail transportation company saw the fund acquire 22,854 shares between April 1 and June 30, and its stock gain more than 22% over the same period. OZ Management’s 3.38 million shares are now worth more than $613 million.

This stake makes it the third largest hedge fund shareholder of record at Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP). However, the largest hedge fund investor outranks it by a wide margin. Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square last disclosed ownership of 13.93 million shares, worth about $2.52 billion. Another major fund betting on the company is, once again, Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital, which started a new position in the company over the quarter, with 3.5 million shares.

Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) was displaced from the first spot, and now occupies the third position in this list. Over the second quarter, the fund trimmed its exposure to the company by 8%, and now owns more than 8.56 million shares, worth approximately $601 million. This makes it, same as in Actavis’ case, the largest hedge fund shareholder of record.

The fund is trailed by Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global, which also reduced its stake in Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) over the quarter. After the sale of 13.77 million shares, the fund owns 7.87 million shares, worth $553 million. Opposite is the case of Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, which more than sextupled its bet on the company, and now owns 2.79 million shares.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position in any stocks or funds mentioned.