Carl Icahn Buys Some More Shares of Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN)

Carl Icahn is still bullish on Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN), according to a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The billionaire reported acquiring around 1.38 million shares, upping his stake in the company to a total of 60.3 million shares. The stake represents almost 19.2% of the company’s outstanding common stock.

The securities have been acquired in three transactions, the average price amounting to $14.15 apiece. At the current price of Nuance’s stock, Icahn’s holding has a value of over $860.6 million.

This is already the second increase in Nuance reported by Icahn in December. Last week, the “hedgie” revealed increasing its activist stake in the company to 58.9 million shares, equal to 18.72% of the company’s stock, from 52.4 million shares held at the end of September.

Voice solutions software company, Nuance Communications, reported its results for the fiscal 2013 a couple of weeks ago. The company posted a GAAP revenue of around $1.9 billion, up by 12.3% on the year. At the same time, it reported a GAAP net loss of $115.2 million, equal to $0.37 per share, versus a net income of $207.1 million posted a year ago. Amid a decline in its profits, the stock of Nuance has declined by over 36% since the beginning of the year. So Icahn’s ‘bulishness’ on the company could be explained by his expectation of company’s growth over the long-term period.

Also, some rumors stated earlier that Icahn’s investment in Nuance can be connected to his intention to pursue a merger between Nuance and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), in which Icahn also owns a significant position. Nuance is engaged in developing the virtual assistant SIRI for Apple’s iPhone and iPad products.

Keith Meister’s Corvex Capital and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group are two other funds bullish on Nuance, holding 3.2 million shares, 2.7 million shares respectively.

Disclosure: none

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