Activist Carl Icahn Takes Stakes in Allergan, Herc Holdings, Slashes PayPal Position

Allergan plc (NYSE:AGN)

– Shares Owned by Icahn Capital L.P. (as of June 30): 3.40 Million

– Value of Icahn Capital L.P.’s Holding (as of June 30): $785.71 Million

Mr. Icahn’s investment firm acquired a new stake of 3.40 million shares of Allergan plc (NYSE:AGN) during the three months ended June 30, valued at $785.71 million. The position made up 3.9% of Mr. Icahn’s overall portfolio. The pharmaceutical company has seen its stock plunge by 18% since the beginning of 2016, as U.S. drug maker Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) decided to terminate its $160 billion-agreement to acquire the Botox marker due to new anti-inversion rules. Just recently, analysts at Credit Suisse compiled a list of top picks in the pharmaceutical space, as well as ran a bull and bear scenario for each firm. The second top pick among Credit Suisse’s outperform-rated pharma stocks was Allergan, citing optimism around recently-launched products and late-stage pipeline. Interestingly enough, Credit Suisse’s bearish case for Allergan assigns a zero-dollar value to the company’s pipeline and yields a massive discounted cash flow valuation of $200 per share. Hence, it appears that Allergan has limited downside and huge upside due to its strong late-stage pipeline. Dan Loeb’s Third Point LLC was the owner of 4.90 million shares of Allergan plc (NYSE:AGN) at the end of the second quarter.

Paypal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

– Shares Owned by Icahn Capital L.P. (as of June 30): 33.90 Million

– Value of Icahn Capital L.P.’s Holding (as of June 30): $1.24 Billion

Paypal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) was the third-largest holding in Carl Icahn’s set of positions at the end of the June quarter, accounting for 6.1% of the equity portfolio value. Mr. Icahn cut its PayPal position by 3.93 million shares during the second quarter to 33.90 million shares. The position was valued at $1.24 billion on June 30. Just recently, the internet payments pioneer inked a partnership agreement with global payments technology company Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) under which PayPal’s long-running fight to steer customers away from using Visa and other cards was capitulated. As a result, the credit-card company agreed not to increase fees to PayPal, as well as offer PayPal users access to Visa’s contactless payments points across the nation. PayPal Holdings has seen its stock gain 6% since the start of the year. Kerr Neilson’s Platinum Asset Management owns 7.25 million shares of Paypal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) as of June 30.

Disclosure: None