Hedge Fund and Insider Trading News: Dan Loeb, Nelson Peltz, Ken Griffin, Pine River Capital Management, Hedonova LLC, B Riley Financial Inc (RILY), Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW), and More

Third Point Becomes Latest Activist Investor to Take Stake in Salesforce (CNBC)
Dan Loeb’s hedge fund Third Point has built a position in Salesforce, expanding the group of activists circling the business software maker, CNBC has confirmed. The news comes two weeks after Salesforce said ValueAct Capital CEO Mason Morfit will join its board in March. Elliott Management and Starboard Value have also disclosed positions in recent months.

Bed Bath & Beyond Meme Traders Make Hedge Fund’s Rescue Deal Possible (The Wall Street Journal)
High trading volumes in the troubled retailer’s stock provide an opportunity for hedge fund Hudson Bay to turn a quick profit. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.’s white knight might be a hedge fund, but the rescue wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the meme traders who made the logic behind the deal possible. Even as Bed Bath & Beyond tumbled toward what seemed like a sure bankruptcy – shutting down stores, missing interest payments and having its credit lines frozen—retail investors continued to bet that the iconic home-goods retailer could defy the odds and survive to eke out some equity value.

Pine River Adds Ex-BlackRock Portfolio Manager to Team (Hedge Week)
Pine River Capital Management (Pine River), a global relative value alternative asset manager and provider of investment solutions to qualified clients through commingled hedge funds and bespoke solutions, has appointed Conan Crum as a portfolio manager to focus on US and UK relative value inflation strategies. Crum will also work closely with portfolio ,anager Matthew Abroe, who oversees all of Pine River’s inflation strategies.

Former SAC Capital Portfolio Manager Tor Minesuk's Top 10 Stock Picks for 2021

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Ken Griffin Backs Miami Effort to Ease Teacher Shortage (Bloomberg)
Citadel’s Ken Griffin is donating $3.5 million to a Miami-based program aimed at helping address a shortage of teachers in the classroom. Griffin, the billionaire hedge fund founder, is backing the Teacher Accelerator Program, which offers selected college seniors a one-semester course leading to a Florida teaching certification and a full-time employment contract with Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Activist Peltz Makes Nice with Disney, Ends Board Challenge (Reuters)
Activist investor Nelson Peltz on Thursday ended his quest for a board seat at Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) after Chief Executive Bob Iger laid out plans to fix the home of Mickey Mouse, cheering investors. “The proxy fight is over. This is a win for all shareholders,” a spokesperson for Peltz’s Trian Fund Management said.

Brobacke is Back in the Game (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – There is significant heterogeneity in the universe of multi-asset investment solutions. Despite an extensive variety of approaches, Nils Brobacke still saw more room for innovation and distinctiveness in the Nordic multi-asset space. He launched a multi-asset global macro fund – Brobacke Global Allokering – under the umbrella of Alfakraft Fonder in mid-November 2022 with the aim to deliver stable returns in both bull and bear markets.

Beware, Hedge Funds! A Giant Short Squeeze Could Be Brewing in 2023. (Investor Place)
Hedge funds are covering short positions at the fastest pace since 2015. The amount of short coverings have even outpaced those of January 2021 when GameStop (GME) squeezed to unimaginable levels. The average hedge fund declined by 4.25% last year. Last year, the HFRI 500 Fund Weighted Composite Index, which measures average hedge fund performance, fell by 4.25%, marking the worst decline since 2018. Equity-based hedge funds had it even worse, posting losses of 10.37%, which still beat the S&P 500’s loss of 19.4%.

Hedonova recognised as the best Multi-Strategy fund by BarclayHedge’s Yearly Performance Rankings 2022 (EINNews.com)
Hedonova LLC recognised as the number one fund in the Multi-Strategy category by BarclayHedge’s Yearly Performance Rankings 2022 Paris-based hedge fund, Hedonova, is proud to announce that it has been recognized as the number one fund in the Multi-Strategy category for 2022 by BarclayHedge’s Yearly Performance Rankings. This highly prestigious award highlights the expertise and success of Hedonova in delivering exceptional returns for its clients. In addition to this recognition, Hedonova LLC has also been nominated in the same category for an award by Hedgeweek.

Thursday 2/9 Insider Buying Report: RILY, PMT (Nasdaq.com)
On Wednesday, B. Riley Financial (RILY)’s CEO B. Riley Securities, Inc., Andrew Moore, made a $774,928 purchase of RILY, buying 20,000 shares at a cost of $38.75 a piece. Moore was up about 6.5% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with RILY trading as high as $41.27 in trading on Thursday. B. Riley Financial Inc is trading up about 2.1% on the day Thursday. Before this latest buy, Moore purchased RILY on 2 other occasions during the past twelve months, for a total investment of $699,980 at an average of $46.67 per share. And also on Wednesday, Director Marianne Sullivan purchased $285,945 worth of Pennymac Mortgage Investment Trust (PMT), purchasing 20,240 shares at a cost of $14.13 a piece.

Amazon, Tesla And 2 Other Stocks Insiders Are Selling (Benzinga)
Palo Alto Networks: The Trade: Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) Director, EVP, Chief Technology Officer Nir Zuk sold a total of 72,000 shares at an average price of $167.38. The insider received around $12.05 million from selling those shares. Tesla: The Trade: Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) CFO Zachary Kirkhorn sold a total of 3,750 shares at an average price of $193.00. The insider received around $723.75 thousand from selling those shares.