Carl Icahn Increases Two of His Largest Stakes

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Apr 03, 2015
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In the closing days of March, guru Carl Icahn (Trades, Portfolio) shored up two of his largest stakes. One, in fact – Federal-Mogul Holdings Corp (FDML, Financial) – is the largest in his portfolio.

On March 26, Icahn purchased more than 17 million shares of Federal-Mogul Holdings, a Michigan-based manufacturer and supplier of powertrain (the components that generate power) elements and safety products for vehicles, for an average price of $12.88 per share.

Federal-Mogul was founded in Detroit in 1899 and originally made mill supplies and rubber goods. The company also made bearings, and that aspect of the business was so successful that it soon became its primary focus. Buick was one of its early customers.

Icahn is the company’s chairman of the board.

Federal-Mogul has a P/E of 0, a Price/Book of 2.4 and a Price/Sales of 0.3.

Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) has shares of Federal-Mogul in his portfolio. John Burbank (Trades, Portfolio) and John Keeley (Trades, Portfolio) sold their stakes in the company in 2014.

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On March 23, Icahn added to the fifth-largest stake in his portfolio, Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK, Financial), an Oklahoma City-based oil and gas company. It was founded in 1989 and named for the Chesapeake Bay region of Maryland and Virginia.

Icahn acquired more than 3.5 million shares in Chesapeake Energy for an average price of $13.5 per share.

Chesapeake Energy has a P/E of 9.4, a Price/Book of 0.7 and a Price/Sales of 0.5.

Gurus Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), Mason Hawkins (Trades, Portfolio), Charles Brandes (Trades, Portfolio) and David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Chesapeake in their portfolios. Bruce Berkowitz (Trades, Portfolio) sold his stake in the company in the fourth quarter of 2014.

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As March came to an end, Icahn also added to his existing stake in Voltari Corp (VLTC, Financial), a New York-based provider of mobile marketing and advertising technology.

Voltari is a comparatively young company, having been formed in 2012 as an operating business of Motricity, a provider of mobile content solutions for handheld and mobile devices. As a result of reorganization the following year, Motricity became a subsidiary of Voltari.

For an average price of $0.85 per share, Icahn increased his stake in Voltari by nearly 600%. Voltari has a P/E of 0, a Price/Book of 0 and a Price/Sales of 1.0.

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