By Geoffrey Rogow
Soros Fund Management LLC sold out of holdings in several
banking giants in the first quarter, including J.P. Morgan Chase
& Co., Bank of America and Citigroup.
The exits come only a quarter after the fund had purchased
stakes in J.P. Morgan and Citi. In all, the fund had owned about
2.8 million shares of J.P. Morgan as of Dec. 31 and 2.3 million
shares of Citi. Shares of both banks are down more than 7% year to
date.
The prominent fund also eliminated its stakes in Alcoa and J.C.
Penney in the period ended March 31, and decreased its stakes in
Liberty Global, Zynga, Microsoft and General Motors. The fund's
move with General Motors follows a hard quarter for the car maker,
while the decreased stake in Microsoft comes just two quarters
after the fund had increased its stake significantly.
The hedge fund, founded by billionaire investor George Soros,
increasingly had lowered its stake in J.C. Penney in recent
quarters as the retailer looks to revitalize its sales in a
fiercely competitive apparel market.
Also in the quarter, Mr. Soros's fund slightly increased its
stake in Herbalife, leaving it with 4.9 million shares as of March
31, up from 3.2 million a quarter ago.
Mr. Soros's fund, which disclosed in 2011 it would return cash
to outside investors, invests money for Mr. Soros and his
family.
Investors who manage more than $100 million are required to
disclose most securities holdings within a month and a half of the
end of a quarter. The filings give the public a relatively fresh
look at the portfolios of well-known investors. The fourth-quarter
deadline was Friday.
Write to Geoffrey Rogow at geoffrey.rogow@wsj.com
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