Billionaire Steven Cohen Buys Stake in the Week’s Hottest Biotech Stock, Plus 3 Other Moves

According to a separate 13D filing, 40 North Management LLC, managed by David S. Winter and David J. Millstone, currently owns 6.16 million shares of Columbia Property Trust Inc. (NYSE:CXP), which constitute 4.99% of the company’s outstanding shares. This is down from the stake of 7.36 million shares revealed in the fund’s previous filing on the real estate investment trust (REIT), submitted with the SEC earlier this month. The REIT owns 27 office properties and one hotel as of December 31, of which one is owned via an unconsolidated joint venture.

Columbia Property Trust Inc. (NYSE:CXP)’s rental income was $436.0 million in 2015, an increase from $414.5 million generated in 2014. The increase was mainly driven by $74.3 million of additional rental income from new properties acquired in 2014 and 2015, which was somewhat offset by a reduction of $51.1 million due to the sale of some properties, as well as by the transfer of the Market Square Buildings to a joint venture in October 2015. The REIT’s 2015 net income totaled $44.6 million or $0.36 per share, down from $92.6 million or $0.74 per share reported for 2014. The 2014 bottom-line figure was positively impacted by a $56.5 million gain on the sale of the Lenox Park Property in October 2014. In February 2016, the company’s Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per share, which equates to a current dividend yield of 5.74%. A total of seven hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were invested in the REIT at the end of 2015, accumulating approximately 8% of its total shares. Let’s not forget to mention that Columbia Property Trust has seen its market value decline by 21% over the past 12 months. D.E. Shaw & Co. L.P., founded by David E. Shaw, trimmed its stake in Columbia Property Trust Inc. (NYSE:CXP) by 36% in the fourth quarter, ending the year with 732,178 shares.

In a public filing with the SEC, Willem Mesdag’s Red Mountain Capital Partners LLC voiced its disappointment with iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT)’s decision not to accept the fund’s settlement proposal that would have resulted in the appointment of Larry Peiros and Willem Mesdag to the company’s Board of Directors. Let us remind you that Red Mountain, which owns 1.78 million shares of iRobot, sent a letter to the company’s Chairman and CEO in January 2016 offering a settlement proposal that stipulated the immediate appointment of the aforementioned individuals to the company’s Board, an increase in the size of the Board to nine members from eight, as well as the formation of a capital allocation committee. According to the investment firm, the settlement proposal “would avoid an unnecessary election contest at the Company’s upcoming annual meeting”. Nonetheless, the robotics company recently announced the appointment of Michael Bell to its Board of Directors, thus refusing to accept the settlement offer made by the activist firm. “We were surprised by the Board’s announcement yesterday morning, and believe that it signals the Board’s intent to pursue a proxy contest at great expense to its shareholders when a better alternative is available”, said the managing partner of Red Mountain, Willem Mesdag.

iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT) generates the majority of its product revenue from the sales of its home cleaning robots, which perform time-consuming domestic tasks. The company also produces defense and security robots that perform tasks that involve battlefield reconnaissance and bomb disposal. iRobot Corporation’s revenue for fiscal year 2015 that ended January 2 was $616.78 million, up from $556.85 million in fiscal year 2014 and $487.40 million in fiscal year 2013. Shares of iRobot are up by 4% over the past 52 weeks. Royce & Associates, founded by Chuck Royce, had 212,000 shares of iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT) in its portfolio at the end of 2015.