By David Benoit
Pershing Square Capital Management LP continued cutting its
stake in consumer-products company Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) in
the fourth quarter of last year.
The hedge fund of Bill Ackman reported owning only 739,605
shares of P&G, down 65% from the end of the third quarter. The
stake was worth about $60 million as of the end of the year, down
from $161 million at the end of September.
Mr. Ackman first took the stake in P&G in July 2012, a stake
worth about $2 billion at that time. He pressured the company to
oust Chief Executive John McDonald, which it did last summer.
P&G had been Pershing Square's biggest investment until the
fund took a position in Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (APD) in
July. Mr. Ackman's hedge fund's stake in Air Products ticked up
slightly in the fourth quarter, the filing showed. Mr. Ackman said
this week at a conference he believed shares could double.
The disclosures came in Pershing Square's form 13F. The federal
filings are required to be filed by institutional investors
managing $100 million or more. They are snapshots of these
portfolios at the end of every calendar quarter.
Write to David Benoit at david.benoit@wsj.com
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