A Look At Billionaire George Soros’ Soros Fund Management Top Moves Heading Into 2016

Soros Fund Management is probably one of the best known investment firms in the world. This former hedge fund turned into a family office was founded by the famed Hungarian-American investor, George Soros, recognized by many as “the Man Who Broke the Bank of England.” Between 1969 and 2000, Soros returned an average of 30.5% per year. In 2007, he came back from retirement after the quant liquidity crunch and managed to generate a 32% return. Even in 2008, he managed to return 8%, while most hedge funds were losing millions. The firm recently filed its 13F for the fourth quarter of 2015, disclosing an equity portfolio worth more than $6 billion. According to InsiderMonkey’s calculations, Soros’ 152 positions in companies with market caps above $1.0 billion returned about 9.6% during the fourth quarter, but posted a weighted average loss of 3.1% for the full 2015.

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Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

– Shares Owned by Soros as of December 31: 7.12 Million

– Value of Holding as of December 31: $216.75 Million

During the fourth quarter, Soros Fund Management initiated a position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF). The stake, worth more than $216 million as of the end of the quarter, accounted for roughly 3.5% of his equity portfolio’s total value. Between October and December the stock lost 2.8% and it is down by 9.3% year-to-date. However, the company has been in the spotlight recently, as Barron’s said that the shares could gain as much as 40% later this year, taking into account its 8.9 forward (2017) earnings multiple that can appreciate on the back of loan growth. Also betting on this company is Phill Gross And Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, which also initiated a stake, comprising 21.64 million shares, during the last three months of 2015.

Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE:LVLT)

– Shares Owned by Soros as of December 31: 3.18 Million

– Value of Holding as of December 31: $173.37 Million

In Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE:LVLT), the fund boosted its exposure by almost 60%. Increasing its stake in the company as well was Robert Pitts’ Steadfast Capital Management, which raised its position by 60% to 6.89 million shares. On Monday, the stock closed 1.6% in the green, after the company announced it had opened its first Latin American DDoS scrubbing center, in São Paulo, Brazil. Nonetheless, year-to-date, the shares have declined by almost 10%.

On the next page we will look into three more moves disclosed by Soros Fund Management heading into 2016.

Dow Chemical Co (NYSE:DOW)

– Shares Owned by Soros as of December 31: 3.13 Million

– Value of Holding as of December 31: $161.21 Million

Dow Chemical Co (NYSE:DOW) fell a few spots in Soros’ equity portfolio – after the fund cut its stake by 21% amid a 21.4% increase in the stock price. More bullish on the stock is Dan Loeb’s Third Point, which disclosed ownership of 25.25 million shares in its latest 13F filing. Recently, Dow Chemical and E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD) announced how the new, giant, joint chemical company they will create will be structured. According to the management teams, the new business will be divided into three companies, an agriculture firm, a material-science company and a specialty products enterprise. All three will be publicly traded.

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:CY)

– Shares Owned by Soros as of December 31: 16.39 Million

– Value of Holding as of December 31: $160.84 Million

Another company that saw Soros Fund Management cut its exposure during the October-December period was Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:CY). Amid a 15.1% surge in the stock price, the fund reduced its stake by 18%, but still ranked as the largest shareholder among those we track, trailed by Matthew Sidman’s Three Bays Capital, which declared holding 15.86 million shares as of December 31. The company will report its first quarter fiscal 2016 financial results on April 28, and the Street has a consensus EPS estimate of $0.06, down by 53% year-over-year, on revenue of $424.96 million, more than double compared to the figure reported a year ago.

Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN)

– Shares Owned by Soros as of December 31: 365,390

– Value of Holding as of December 31: $114.18 Million

Finally, there’s Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN), which saw Soros Fund Management cut its stake by almost 53% over the fourth quarter. The shares were also up on Monday, after the company posted EPS of $2.41 on revenue of $4.198 billion – pretty much in line with expectations. Another investor that cut its stake in the company over the fourth quarter is Tiger Cub Andreas Halvorsen. His fund, Viking Global, trimmed its position by 17%, taking its holding to 5.97 million shares; nonetheless, the fund still remains the largest shareholder in our database.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned above.