Passport Capital Ups Hortonworks Stake

John Burbank's hedge fund firm Passport Capital has filed an amended 13G with the SEC regarding its stake in Hortonworks (HDP).  Per the filing, Passport now owns 12.2% of the company with over 6.66 million shares.

This is an increase over the 1.7 million shares Passport owned at the end of 2015.  The filing was made due to activity on February 29th.

Per Google Finance, Hortonworks is "a provider and distributor of an enterprise-grade Hadoop solution called the Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP). The Company's platform integrates with data center technologies to enable data architectures and enables its customers to collect, store, process and analyze existing and new data types in a way that augments rather than replaces their existing data center infrastructure. It provides support subscription offerings and related professional services around the HDP, which is its open source software distribution of Apache Hadoop and associated projects. Its products include Hortonworks Data Platform and Hortonworks Sandbox. Its range of professional services are training and consulting. It caters to vertical markets, including online services, education, financial services, Government, healthcare/pharmaceuticals, industrials/manufacturing, media/entertainment, retail/ecommerce, technology and telecommunications.."

Three Bays Capital Files 13D on Cypress Semiconductor, Boosts Position

Matthew Sidman's hedge fund Three Bays Capital has filed a 13D with the SEC regarding shares of Cypress Semiconductor (CY).  Per the filing, Three Bays now owns 7.1% of the company with over 22.46 million shares.

This is an increase over the 15.8 million shares Three Bays owned at the end of 2015.  The filing was made due to activity on March 3rd.  The 13D contains the standard boilerplate noting that they've met with management.

Prior to founding Three Bays in 2013, Sidman worked at Highfields Capital.

Per Google Finance, Cypress Semiconductor is "a provider of mixed-signal programmable solutions. The Company's offerings include PSoC 1, PSoC 3, PSoC 4 and PSoC 5LP programmable system-on-chip families. It caters to markets, including industrial, mobile handsets, consumer, computation, data communications, automotive and military. The Company operates in four segments: Programmable Systems Division, Memory Products Division, Data Communications Division and Emerging Technologies Division. The Programmable Solutions Division designs and develops solutions for end-product manufacturers. The Memory Products Division designs and manufactures SRAM products and non-volatile RAMs (random access memories). The Data Communications Division focuses on solutions for industrial, handset and consumer applications. The Emerging Technologies Division consists of the Company's subsidiaries, AgigA Tech, Inc. and Deca Technologies, Inc.."

Carl Icahn Trims Stakes In Nuance Communications, Tegna & Mentor Graphics

Activist investor Carl Icahn has been busy lately, filing numerous portfolio disclosures with the SEC.  Here's a breakdown of his activity:

Trims Nuance Communications Stake

Per a Form 4 filed with the SEC, Icahn sold 26.3 million shares of Nuance Communications (NUAN) on March 9th at a price of $19.  After the sale, he still owns over 34.46 million shares of the company.  This means he still owns 11.32% of NUAN.

Per Google Finance, Nuance Communications is "a provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers across the world. The Company's solutions are used in healthcare, mobile, consumer, enterprise customer service, and imaging markets. The Company offers accuracy, natural language understanding capability, domain knowledge and implementation capabilities. The Company's solutions are based on the Company's voice and language platform and are used by businesses for tasks and services, such as requesting information from a phone-based self-service solution, dictating medical records, searching the mobile Web by voice, entering a destination into a navigation system, or working with portable document format (PDF) documents. The Company offers its solutions to its customers in a range of ways, including through products, hosting, professional services and maintenance and support. The Company operates in four segments: Healthcare, Mobile and Consumer, Enterprise, and Imaging."


Reduces Tegna Exposure

Additionally, Icahn filed an amended 13D with the SEC regarding his stake in Tegna (TGNA).  Per the filing, he sold shares throughout early March at prices around $24.xx.  After selling around 2.07 million shares, Icahn still owns 4.88% of the company with over 10.7 million shares.

Per Google Finance, Tegna is "a media and marketing solutions company. The Company is engaged in providing local content on a range of platforms in the United States. The Company operates through Broadcasting and Digital segments. It also provides digital marketing services and Internet-based human resource solutions. Its digital media products and services include search, social media and Website development, among others. The Company offers its services in a range of geographies, demographics and content areas. The Company provides consumers with the information and entertainment, and connects consumers to their communities through various platforms, such as television stations, desktop, smartphone and tablet products. Its Broadcasting segment includes an independent station group of network affiliates. The Company's Digital business segment includes Cars.com, CareerBuilder and Shoplocal."


Sells Some Mentor Graphics

Lastly, the activist investor has sold some of his Mentor Graphics (MENT) position per a 13D filed with the SEC.  Icahn was selling shares on March 7th and 8th at prices of $19.46 and $19.54 and now owns 4.6% of the company with over 5.48 million shares.  This compares to his previous ownership of 16.1 million shares of MENT at the end of 2015.

Per Google Finance, Mentor Graphics is "a supplier of electronic design automation (EDA) tools - computer software and emulation hardware systems used to automate the design, analysis and testing of complex electro-mechanical systems, electronic hardware and embedded systems software in electronic systems and components. The Company's products are used in the design and development of a diverse set of electronic products, including automotive electronics, computers and workstations, digital cameras, cellular telephones, medical devices, smart phones, industrial electronics and manufacturing systems. The Company segregated revenues into five categories of similar products and services: Scalable Verification, IC Design to Silicon, Integrated System Design, New and Emerging Products, and Services and Other."

ValueAct Capital Reduces MSCI & Motorola Solutions Stakes

Jeff Ubben's activist investment firm ValueAct Capital has filed numerous disclosures with the SEC regarding some of their positions recently.


ValueAct Trims MSCI Stake

First, they've filed an amended 13D with the SEC regarding shares of MSCI (MSCI).  ValueAct now owns 4.1% of the company with over 4.06 million shares.

This is down from the 6.32 million shares they owned at the end of 2015.  They sold shares at the end of February and beginning of March at prices between $69.25 and $71.96.

Per Google Finance, MSCI "together with its wholly owned subsidiaries, is a provider of investment decision support tools, including indexes, portfolio risk and performance analytics and multi-asset class market risk analytics products and services. The Company’s products include global equity indexes and environmental, social and governance (ESG) products marketed under the MSCI and MSCI ESG Research brands, its private real estate benchmarks marketed under the IPD brand, its portfolio risk and performance analytics covering global equity markets marketed under the Barra brand, its multi-asset class, market and credit risk analytics marketed under the RiskMetrics and Barra brands and its performance reporting products and services offered to the investment consultant community marketed under the InvestorForce brand."


Ubben Reduces Motorola Solutions Position

Second, ValueAct has also filed a Form 4 with the SEC regarding their stake in Motorola Solutions (MSI).  They sold over 6.6 million shares at prices of $70 and $74.14 on March 1st and February 29th.  After these sales, they now own 10.96 million shares of MSI, or 6.3% of the company.

Per Google Finance, Motorola Solutions "provides communication infrastructure, devices, accessories, software and services. The Company operates business in two segments: Products and Services. The Products segment offers a portfolio of infrastructure, devices, accessories and software. The primary customers of the Products segment are Government, public safety and first-responder agencies, municipalities, and commercial and industrial customers. The Products segment has two principal product lines: devices and systems. The Services segment provides a set of service offerings for Government, public safety and commercial communication networks. The Services segment has the following principal product lines: Integration services, Lifecycle Support services, Managed services, Smart Public Safety Solutions and Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) services. The Company serves customers in more than 100 countries."

London Value Investor Conference 2016

The fifth annual London Value Investor Conference will take place on Thursday 26th May 2016 at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster; with speakers including Howard Marks, Jean-Marie Eveillard and James Montier.  Both Howard Marks and Jean-Marie Eveillard will hold extensive audience Q&A sessions hosted by the conference moderators: David Shapiro of Willis Towers Watson and Richard Oldfield of Oldfield Partners.


The conference will also be a showcase for less well known fund managers to present detailed investment ideas:  click here for the full speaker line-up.


There is an overview video available of the London Value Investor Conference 2015 which provides a good introduction to the event (video link if it doesn't show up below):





Two other features of the conference this year are the Value Investor Awards (for which nominations are currently being accepted) and the London Value Investor Conference Dinner which takes place in the Members Dining Room at the House of Commons after the conference finishes.


Until 31st March, our readers can save £180 (inc VAT) with the discount code: MARKETFOLLY-MARCH-DISCOUNT