Bill Ackman (Trades, Portfolio) of Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. is known for being an activist investor as well as a philanthropist. Ackman, along with guru Bruce Berkowitz (Trades, Portfolio) and Joseph Steinberg, donated funds to the Center for Jewish History. It was the largest gift the center has ever received. Ackman alone donated almost $7 million because his family says, "we want our children to know, not only their living relatives, but those representing past generations for a greater connection to their family and ancestral origin and heritage."
Ackman is also active in The Giving Pledge, started by guru Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) along with Bill Gates (Trades, Portfolio) and his wife, in which he committed 50% of his wealth to go to charitable causes.
Ackman and his wife also founded the Pershing Square Foundation in 2006, which landed them on the list of The Chronicle of Philanthropy's "Philanthropy 50" list of the most generous people.
Ackman's confidence and humble attitude go beyond his work as a philanthropist. He is also a confident yet humble investor as well.
"One of the keys to this business is having conviction based on your work that you’re right and the rest of the world is wrong. If you don’t have that confidence, you’ll never buy anything because there’s always something that can go wrong," Ackman says. "There’s obviously a balance to maintain between confidence and humility. You have to be humble enough to recognize when you’re wrong. I’m willing to look silly."
Here's a look at Ackman's latest additions to his portfolio:
Ackman increased his position in ZTS with 41,823,145 shares in his portfolio and 8.29% of the company's shares outstanding, valued at $1.788 billion. ZTS shares were purchaed at an average price of $39.83/share. ZTS consists of 11.1% of his portfolio.
Zoetis was incorporated in 2012 as a company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes animal health medicines and vaccines, with a focus on livestock and companion animals.
Zoetis Inc's earnings per share for the past 12 months was $1.12 and the average Growth Rate for the year was 43.60%. The stock is currently trading at $45.97/share and the P/E ratio is 41.09. The intrinsic value calculator gives the stock a fair value of $17.11, wtih a margin of safety at -169%, indicating the stock may be overvalued.
The current P/S ratio is 4.89 and close to its 2-year high of 4.77 and also higher than the industry's median, which is at 1.5.
Zoetis Inc's Revenue per Share for the past 12 months was $9.42 and the average Growtth Rate for the year was 5.10%, which is lower than 78% of the companies within the Global Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic industry.
Platform Specialty Products Inc (PAH, Financial)
Ackman increased his position in PAH by 28.21%. He now owns 42,737,394 shares and 25.83% of the company's shares outstanding. PAH's shares are valued at $992.3 million and consists of 6.2% of his overall portfolio.
Platform Specialty Products was incorporated under the limitations of the British Virgin Island laws in 2013 as a company that manufactures a wide range of speciality chemicals.
The company's current Revenue per Share over the past 12 months was $4.47 and its current share price is $24.23, which makes the P/S ratio 5.54.
Platform Specialty's shares outstanding as of September 2014 were 152.7 million, which puts the market cap at $4.097 billion.
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