David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital Buys Twitter Stake, Says Shares Undervalued vs Facebook (CNBC)
David Einhorn‘s Greenlight Capital bought Twitter shares, according to an investor letter sent to clients on Tuesday. “We initiated a small position in Twitter at an average [price] of $21.59,” the letter said. “Despite a massive user base and broad reach, Twitter has an enterprise value of about 2% of Facebook, the largest social media platform.” The investor also said the fund started long positions in Brighthouse Financial, Ensco and Time Warner. Einhorn explained Time Warner will likely get acquired by AT&T, but the company’s stock will do well even if the deal doesn’t happen.
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Hess Cutting Hundreds of Workers as it Battles Activist Investor (Reuters)
Hess Corp (HES.N) is cutting roughly 13 percent of its workforce and streamlining operations as it battles an activist hedge fund shareholder pushing for the U.S. oil and gas producer to post its first quarterly profit since 2014. Most of the cuts, which could start as early as Tuesday and continue through the week, are in Houston, home to a majority of the company’s employees, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Lorrie Hecker, a Hess spokeswoman, confirmed the cuts, saying about 300 workers, or about 13 percent of the company’s workforce, would be dismissed. The cuts also include an unknown number of contractors, who are not full-time employees. Hedge fund Elliott Management Corp last month launched an activist campaign against Hess, saying it was frustrated by the company’s “continuing underperformance” and floated the idea of pushing to remove John Hess as chief executive.
Fund Managers Remain Upbeat Amid Soaring Market (Barron’s)
There’s plenty of talk that the U.S. stock market – which saw the Dow Jones industrial average Tuesday breach 26,000 for the first time – is a bubble about to pop, but fund managers remain optimistic. In fact, they think a market top won’t arrive for at least another year, CNBC.com reports, citing the latest Bank of America Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey. The consensus is that the market won’t hit a peak until sometime in 2019. Fund managers have trimmed their cash allocations to the lowest level in five years and are at a two-year high in allocation to stocks, the survey reveals. Meanwhile, hedge fund managers say their equity exposure, which is 49% net long, is at its highest since 2006.
Greenlight’s Einhorn Bets on Brighthouse, Makes Money on GM (Reuters)
BOSTON (Reuters) – Hedge fund manager David Einhorn told investors on Tuesday that he made a “large” bet on insurer Brighthouse Financial late last year, and had made money on General Motors but lost by shorting Amazon and Tesla. Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital bought into Brighthouse, MetLife’s former U.S. retail life-insurance business, at an average cost of $57.92, according to a letter sent to clients and seen by Reuters. The stock is now trading at $63.90. The fund manager said General Motors, which was his firm’s biggest winner last year, remains “significantly under valued” given the automaker’s “impressive fundamental performance.”
Insider Trading: Point72 Asset Management – L.P. Paid for 25,000 Shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (BBW); TAV HAVALIMANLARI (TAVHY) SI Increased By 950% (Utah Herald)
A document filed with the U.S. SEC on January 16, 2018 disclosed that Point72 Asset Management L.P., the insider of Build A Bear Workshop Inc, ‘s company, acquired 25,000 shares. With average market share price of $8.3, the trade’s sum is $207,495 US Dollars. Point72 Asset Management – L.P. currently has in hand 2.98 million shares which are equivalent to roughly 19.18% of the Missouri-Company’s total market cap. TAV HAVALIMANLARI (OTCMKTS:TAVHY) had an increase of 950% in short interest. TAVHY’s SI was 2,100 shares in January as released by FINRA. Its up 950% from 200 shares previously. With 600 avg volume, 4 days are for TAV HAVALIMANLARI (OTCMKTS:TAVHY)’s short sellers to cover TAVHY’s short positions.
Insider Buying: Vitamin Shoppe Inc (NYSE:VSI) Major Shareholder Buys 326,692 Shares of Stock (The Lincolnian Online)
Vitamin Shoppe Inc (NYSE:VSI) major shareholder Vintage Capital Management Llc acquired 326,692 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.96 per share, for a total transaction of $1,620,392.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.
HP Inc (HPQ) Insider Ron Coughlin Sells 15,000 Shares (Stock News Times)
HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) insider Ron Coughlin sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.50, for a total transaction of $337,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 130,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,942,235. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.
Insider Buying: Lamb Weston Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LW) Director Buys 5,000 Shares of Stock (TrueBlueTribune)
Lamb Weston Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LW) Director Peter J. Bensen purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.18 per share, for a total transaction of $290,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,578.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.
Insider Buying: CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR) Major Shareholder Purchases 134,356 Shares of Stock (Week Herald)
CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR) major shareholder Wilks Brothers, Llc acquired 134,356 shares of CARBO Ceramics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.57 per share, with a total value of $1,151,430.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.
Insider Selling: Crispr Therapeutics AG (CRSP) Director Sells 92,337 Shares of Stock (StockNewsTimes)
Crispr Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP) Director Kurt Von Emster sold 92,337 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.96, for a total value of $2,489,405.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.
