RIMA Senvest’s latest 13F also showed that the fund initiated 11 new long positions during the fourth quarter, three of which account for more than 1% of its equity portfolio. The largest new position is represented by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU), a $20.91 billion auto manufacturer, in which the investor disclosed a $53.02 million stake that contained 4.58 million shares. Massive safety recalls that affected giant auto companies such as GM and Ford also affected Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU), which earlier this month announced the recall of some 702,600 SUVs, including the Dodge Journey and Dodge Grand Caravan and the Chrysler Town and Country minivans. The recalls are being made to fix defective ignition switches that can turn off the engine unexpectedly. Nevertheless, the stock of the company is up by 47% over the last 52 weeks as the company enjoyed strong sales during the past year. Cliff Asness‘ AQR Capital Management is another shareholder of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU), which owned 6.92 million shares as of the end of 2014.
RIMA also initiated a stake in Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, disclosing ownership of 61,500 shares, valued at $32.37 million. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s class C shares have enjoyed a strong run since the beginning of the year, gaining over 8%, but since the end of March 2014, when they started trading, shares are actually almost flat amid high volatility. Earlier today, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced that it hired Ruth Porat, the current CFO of Morgan Stanley, to succeed Patrick Pichette as its new CFO in May. Among the funds that we track, both the company’s class A and class C stocks have seen a decrease in popularity during the fourth quarter. For Google’s class C stock, the number of funds holding long positions declined to 105, from 113, while the amount of capital held by these funds fell to $5.68 billion from $6.11 billion. Aside from RIMA Senvest, another shareholder of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Boykin Curry’s Eagle Capital Management, which held 1.12 million shares.
Finally, the third largest position in RIMA Senvest’s equity portfolio is represented by Digimarc Corp (NASDAQ:DMRC), a microcap developer of solutions, licenser of intellectual property, and provider of development services to global business partners. The stock is down by 30% over the last 52 weeks, but analysts are optimistic about Digimarc Corp (NASDAQ:DMRC)’s prospects as the stock has a consensus ‘Buy’ rating and a price target of over $39, which represents a significant premium over the current price of $22.89. However, in February, TheStreet downgraded the stock to ‘Sell’ from ‘Hold’. RIMA is the largest shareholder of Digimarc Corp (NASDAQ:DMRC) among the funds that we track, while other investors own much smaller positions in the company. The second-largest stake is held by Eric Semler‘s TCS Capital Management, which disclosed holding 64,250 shares in its latest 13F filing
Disclosure: None
