These 5 Stocks Were Dumped by Prominent Hedge Funds in Q1

Priceline Group Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN)

Appaloosa’s decision to dump 110,010 shares of Priceline is perhaps less obvious than the previous two moves, which were underpinned by plummeting stock prices. In fact, it’s likely that the company has reached the pinnacle of its valuation that Mr. Tepper’s firm decided to part ways with the stock. Priceline Group Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN)’s shares are trading nearly sideways on a year-to-date basis and are up by a little over 7% in the last 12 months. Priceline did manage to beat both the top and bottom-line expectations with its first quarter financial results and expects the trend to continue in the second quarter, with room nights booked to increase by roughly 15%-to-22% year-over-year and total gross travel bookings to increase by 11%-to-18%. Tiger Global Management, which is led by Chase Coleman, cut its stake in Priceline Group Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN) by 28% to about 551,000 shares during the first trimester.

United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL)

Appaloosa Management initiated a holding in the $15 billion airline company during the fourth quarter of 2009, and more than six years later, wiped out the remaining 600,985 shares of the stock from its equity portfolio during the first quarter. United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) has seen its stock price depreciate by more than 22% so far this year, with the company’s first quarter top-line figure of $8.19 billion not only missing estimates by $20 million, but also marking a slide of 4.9% from the same quarter a year earlier. Consequently, passenger revenue per available seat mile was 7.4% lower on a year-over-year basis. Thomas E. Claugus’ GMT Capital cut its stake in United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) by 7% in the first three months of this year, to 5.58 million shares.

PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)

Lastly, Trian Partners dumped its 18.32 million PepsiCo shares during the March trimester. The carbonated soft drinks industry is up by a meager 0.1% so far this year, but PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)’s shares are standing tall, with gains of 4.2% during the same period. Considering the extremely small short interest in the stock and an earnings beat by Pepsi in the first quarter, the disposal of the holding by Trian can’t be blamed on weakness in its results or flagging investor sentiment towards it. The activist investor did take advantage of the stock doubling in value since its position in it was initiated in March 2013, even though PepsiCo’s management didn’t give in to Trian’s demands that its beverage and snacks units be spun off. Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management was bullish on PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) during the first quarter, boosting its stake by 13% to 4.63 million shares.

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