Activists Icahn and Ubben Take Profits Off the Table from Successful Campaigns, Plus 2 Other Activist Moves

Let’s wrap up our discussion by examining a freshly-amended 13D filing submitted by Carl Icahn’s investment vehicle. According to the SEC filing, Icahn Capital L.P. currently owns a stake of 22.23 million shares in Hologic Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX), which make up 7.83% of the company’s outstanding shares. This is down from the stake of 28.15 million shares disclosed in the latest quarterly 13F submitted by Mr. Icahn’s activist fund, as well as the 25.33 million shares disclosed in a 13D filing earlier this month. Hologic is a developer, manufacturer and supplier of diagnostics products, medical imaging systems and surgical products primarily focused on women’s health. The shares of the medical service and diagnostics company have advanced by 60% over the past two years, partially owing to activist involvement on the behalf of Mr. Icahn. Earlier this month, Jonathan Christodoro and Samuel Merksamer, two employees of Icahn Capital L.P., resigned from Hologic’s Board of Directors. Moreover, Mr. Icahn and his team decided not to replace the recently-resigned members of the Board.

Hologic Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) registered product sales of $587.2 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2016 that ended December 26, which marked an increase of 7.4% year-over-year. The smart money sentiment towards Hologic declined in the fourth quarter of 2015, with the number of top money managers invested in the company dropping to 33 from 38 quarter-over-quarter. While Mr. Icahn has been gradually cashing out his firm’s holdings in Hologic Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX), Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies acquired a new stake of 1.67 million shares in the company during the December quarter.

Disclosure: None