Dow Chemical, Actavis & Sotheby’s Are Dan Loeb’s Largest Holdings For Long-Term Horizon

Dow Chemical was one of the favorite basic industries stocks among billionaires, with nine high-worth investors reporting long positions in the company. George Soros and David E. Shaw are two other prominent investors in Dow Chemical Co (NYSE:DOW), holding 5.18 million shares and 11.26 million shares respectively. Moreover, both Soros and Shaw surged their exposure to the company by 78% and 86% on the quarter respectively.

Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT) is next on the list with Third Point holding 3.45 million shares, up by 20% on the quarter, the value of the stake amounting to $888.06 million. The investor initiated a stake in Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT) during the first quarter of 2014, initially holding 2.50 million shares. Meanwhile, the stock of the pharmaceutical company gained over 50% during 2014, amid several major developments, the most important of which being the acquisition of Allergan, Inc. (NYSE:AGN) for $66 billion. Actavis was one of the most popular healthcare stocks among hedge funds that we track. The largest shareholder of Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT) is Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global that owns 4.59 million shares of the company as of the end of 2014.

Next in line is Sothebys (NYSE:BID), one of the most longevive positions in Third Point’s equity portfolio, which contains 6.65 million shares, valued at $287.18 million. Third Point first disclosed a stake with 500,000 shares during the first quarter of 2013. Sotheby’s represents another successful activist campaign launched by Mr. Loeb. After a long proxy fight that costed the company around $20 million, Sothebys (NYSE:BID) first agree to appoint three Third Point’s nominees to its board of directors and in November CEO William F. Ruprecht finally agreed to step down amid pressure from the investor. The stock of the auction house appreciated slightly by around 3% since Mr. Ruprecht’s decision to step down, although it is still down by 15% over the last 52 weeks. Another shareholder of Sothebys (NYSE:BID) is activist Richard Mcguire‘s Marcato Capital Management, which owns 5.07 million shares as of the end of last year.

Disclosure: none