Computer Sciences Corp (CSC, Financial) was new to Jana Partners (Trades, Portfolio)’ portfolio in the fourth quarter of 2014, but that acquisition did not indicate a shift in its investing emphasis.
Technology stocks are favored by Jana Partners (Trades, Portfolio), and Computer Sciences, which was launched in April 1959, is a worldwide information technology services company based in Falls Church, Virginia. It has nearly 75,000 employees in more than 70 countries.
Jana’s initial investment in CSC in the fourth quarter was 2,754,027 shares, which were purchased for an average price of $61.1 per share; that was enough to make CSC the 21st-largest stake in Jana’s portfolio.
In February, Jana more than tripled its stake in CSC, buying 5,617,730 shares for an average price of $62.14 per share.
With that purchase – and Jana Partners (Trades, Portfolio)' sale of more than 5 million shares of PetSmart Inc (PETM, Financial) in January – CSC became the ninth-largest stake in Jana’s portfolio.
Since it is known that Jana prefers “companies undergoing or expected to undergo change,” it would be logical to expect to see such a change looming on the horizon, but CSC does not appear to be on the brink of any significant changes.
Computer Sciences has a market cap of $9.25 billion and an enterprise value of $9.67 billion. It has a Price/Book of 2.7 and a Price/Sales of 0.8.
Three gurus – David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) and Dodge & Cox – have shares of CSC in their portfolios. Gurus John Burbank (Trades, Portfolio) and Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio) sold their stakes in CSC in the fourth quarter.
