Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Crispin Odey, Davidson Kempner, FACT Capital, Broadcom Inc (AVGO), S&P Global Inc (SPGI), and More

Davidson Kempner Ups Stake in Qiagen to 7.3% (Reuters)
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Hedge fund Davidson Kempner, which is rejecting a sweetened offer from Thermo Fisher (TMO.N) for Qiagen (QIA.DE), said it had increased its stake in the takeover target to 7.3%.

Crispin Odey Charged With Indecent Assault, U.K. Prosecutors Say (Bloomberg)
Crispin Odey, one of Europe’s highest-profile hedge fund managers, has been charged with indecent assault, U.K. prosecutors said. Odey was charged with one count under the Sexual Offences Act, and is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court in September, the Crown Prosecution Service said Friday. The charge relates to an alleged incident in the summer of 1999, the CPS said.

Biggest Hedge Fund In The World, Bridgewater Associates In Trouble – Losses & Lawsuit (CloutNews.com)
We’ve made more money for our clients than any other hedge fund in existence,” declared Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge-fund manager, in 2017. In early 2020 Bridgewater was head and shoulders above the rest, having made $58.5bn, net of fees, for its clients since the firm’s inception in 1975. Mr Dalio is worth $17bn, making him one of the richest people in the world. He stepped back from running the firm in 2017, but it has been shaped by his deep economic analysis, and his unorthodox management style, which he calls “radical transparency”.

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Tribune Publishing Seems to be Defending Against a Takeover. The Question is, Against Who? (Poynter.org)
From the outside looking in, it has appeared that Tribune Publishing had been accepting the growing influence of its largest shareholder, hedge fund Alden Global Capital. But a Securities and Exchange Commission filing and press release this week indicated it has now adopted a traditional defense to an unwelcome takeover attempt. Hold on, though. It is less than clear whether the move defends Alden’s 32% stake against a bid by someone else, or whether the “poison pill” making a takeover much more expensive could also be triggered if Alden or 25% holder Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong increased their stake by another 10% (or tried to sell).

FACT Capital Navigates a Wild First Year by Focusing on Specialization (Opalesque.com)
FACT Capital, a new long/short hedge fund with an all woman investment team is trying to change the industry. FACT stands for fairness, alignment, compounding, and transparency – values that govern the fund’s approach to investing. According to founder Joyce Meng, FACT is designed to be an investor friendly hedge fund, offering an easy to understand strategy at a low cost. “Our ethos is to have deeply-researched, fully-transparent portfolios at low fees and to treat our LPs the way we would want to be treated ourselves,” Meng tells Opalesque New Managers.

As Far As We (And Presumably Steve Cohen) Are Concerned, It Took Two-And-A-Half Years Longer Than It Should Have To Raise $10 Billion (Deal Breaker)
Shortly after his return to managing outside capital after an unpleasant two-year insider-trading time out, Steve Cohen modestly noted that raising it hadn’t required much of him. “It was really easy,” he said. By most people’s standard, sure: Cohen had managed to garner $5 billion in less than a year. But to get it, he’d had to humiliatingly prostrate himself, cutting fees and lockups periods. And even then, it was a far cry from the $10 billion he’d hoped would greet him on the lawn at 72 Cummings Point Road within minutes of midnight on Jan. 1, 2018.

From Mainstream to Niche: How Energy Specialist Hedge Fund HITE is Thriving with Bearish Carbon Outlook (Hedge Week)
Established in 2004, HITE Hedge Asset Management is an alpha-focused energy specialist hedge fund firm which trades a range of energy-related securities throughout the entire carbon value chain. The Quincy, Massachusetts-based outfit’s approach comprises two main strategies: a long-running market neutral, pure alpha-focused, relative value product, which represents around 80 per cent of the firm’s total AUM of USD500 million, and a newer thematic, its short carbon strategy, which launched in 2018.

Broadcom Inc (AVGO) President and CEO Hock E Tan Sold $17.6 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
President and CEO of Broadcom Inc., Hock E Tan, sold 57,171 shares of AVGO on 07/28/2020 at an average price of $308.49 a share. The total sale was $17.6 million. Broadcom Inc is engaged in designing, developing and supplying analog and digital semiconductor connectivity solutions. Its product portfolio serves wired infrastructure, wireless communications, enterprise storage and industrial and other end markets.

Friday 7/31 Insider Buying Report: SYF, TACO (Nasdaq.com)
At Synchrony Financial, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Tuesday, Director P.W. Parker bought 10,000 shares of SYF, for a cost of $23.32 each, for a total investment of $233,200. Bargain hunters can grab SYF at a price even lower than Parker did, with the stock changing hands as low as $22.78 in trading on Friday which is 2.3% below Parker’s purchase price. Synchrony Financial is trading off about 0.5% on the day Friday. This buy marks the first one filed by Parker in the past year. And on Wednesday, Director Ari B. Levy purchased $184,305 worth of Del Taco Restaurants, purchasing 24,900 shares at a cost of $7.40 each. Before this latest buy, Levy made one other purchase in the past year, buying $606,304 shares at a cost of $2.64 each. Del Taco Restaurants Inc is trading up about 1.4% on the day Friday.

What Did This CEO Just Do with Personal Shares of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI)? (Analyst Ratings)
Yesterday, the CEO & President of S&P Global (SPGI), Douglas Peterson, sold shares of SPGI for $10.54M. Following Douglas Peterson’s last SPGI Sell transaction on November 16, 2017, the stock climbed by 196.6%. In addition to Douglas Peterson, one other SPGI executive reported Sell trades in the last month.

Autonation Inc (AN) Chairman and CEO Michael J Jackson Sold $5 million of Shares (Guru Focus)
Chairman and CEO of Autonation Inc., Michael J Jackson, sold 90,819 shares of AN on 07/28/2020 at an average price of $54.97 a share. The total sale was $5 million. AutoNation Inc is an automotive retailer in the United States. The company offers all types of automotive products and services, including new vehicles, used vehicles, parts and accessories, automotive services, automotive finance and insurance products.