John Paulson's First-Quarter Moves Alter Largest And Most Valuable Stakes

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Jun 01, 2015
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Hedge fund manager John Paulson (Trades, Portfolio), founder and president of Paulson & Co. Inc., the third-largest hedge fund in the world, has been called “one of the most prominent names in high finance” by The New York Times. He rocketed to prominence by making $3.7 billion in 2007 using credit default swaps in a gamble against the U.S. subprime mortgage lending market.

In the first quarter of 2015, Paulson made some moves that shifted the balances of the largest and most valuable stakes in his portfolio.

Actavis PLC (ACT, Financial), a global pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, became the second-most valuable stake in Paulson’s portfolio when he purchased 4,080,187 shares for an average price of $285.1 per share, more than doubling his holding. The purchase had a 6.37% impact on his portfolio.

Actavis has a market cap of $121.83 billion and an enterprise value of $167.33 billion. It has a Price/Book of 1.8 and a Price/Sales of 5.2. Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio), Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio), Daniel Loeb (Trades, Portfolio), Larry Robbins (Trades, Portfolio), Steve Mandel (Trades, Portfolio), Jana Partners (Trades, Portfolio), First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio), John Griffin (Trades, Portfolio), Bill Ackman (Trades, Portfolio), Leon Cooperman (Trades, Portfolio), Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio), George Soros (Trades, Portfolio), RS Investment Management (Trades, Portfolio), Lee Ainslie (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Private Capital (Trades, Portfolio), Julian Robertson (Trades, Portfolio), Scott Black (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio), Bernard Horn (Trades, Portfolio), Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) and Dodge & Cox have shares of Actavis in their portfolios. Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) and Eric Mindich (Trades, Portfolio) sold their stakes in Actavis in the first quarter.

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Paulson added to his existing stake in T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS, Financial), a Bellevue, Washington-based wireless network operator providing wireless voice, messaging and data services, in the first quarter. Paulson purchased 8,507,200 shares for an average price of $31.17 per share with an impact of 1.42% on his portfolio. As a result, T-Mobile became the seventh-largest stake (by volume) in Paulson’s portfolio.

T-Mobile has a market cap of $31.65 billion and an enterprise value of $53.47 billion. It has a P/E of 99.6, a Price/Book of 1.9 and a Price/Sales of 1.0. Larry Robbins (Trades, Portfolio), Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), George Soros (Trades, Portfolio), Manning & Napier Advisors, Inc., Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of T-Mobile in their portfolios. John Burbank (Trades, Portfolio) and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) sold their stakes in T-Mobile in the first quarter.

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Paulson also added to his stake in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (VRX, Financial), a Montreal-based pharmaceutical company, buying 1,529,300 shares for an average price of $177.4 per share. The buy had a 1.6% impact on Paulson’s portfolio and made Valeant his 15th-most valuable stake.

Valeant has a market cap of $81.93 billion and an enterprise value of $103.57 billion. It has a P/E of 87.2, a Price/Book of 12.7 and a Price/Sales of 9.5. Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio), Bill Ackman (Trades, Portfolio), Jeff Ubben (Trades, Portfolio), Glenn Greenberg (Trades, Portfolio), Steve Mandel (Trades, Portfolio), Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio), Lou Simpson (Trades, Portfolio), Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio), Jana Partners (Trades, Portfolio), Lee Ainslie (Trades, Portfolio), First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Private Capital (Trades, Portfolio), Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio) and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Valeant in their portfolios. Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) and George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) sold their stakes in the first quarter.

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A new addition to Paulson’s portfolio in the first quarter was a stake in American International Group Inc (AIG, Financial), a New York-based multinational insurance corporation. Paulson bought 14,603,200 shares for an average price of $53.62 per share. The acquisition had a 4.2% impact on Paulson’s portfolio and made AIG his 10th-most valuable stake and his 12th largest (by volume).

AIG has a market cap of $78.12 billion and an enterprise value of $96.73 billion. It has a P/E of 9.9, a Price/Book of 0.7 and a Price/Sales of 1.3. Fairholme Fund (Trades, Portfolio), Bruce Berkowitz (Trades, Portfolio), HOTCHKIS & WILEY, Richard Perry (Trades, Portfolio), Richard Pzena (Trades, Portfolio), First Pacific Advisors (Trades, Portfolio), Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Romick (Trades, Portfolio), Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio), Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio), Larry Robbins (Trades, Portfolio), First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio), James Barrow (Trades, Portfolio), Leon Cooperman (Trades, Portfolio), Daniel Loeb (Trades, Portfolio), John Griffin (Trades, Portfolio), Charles Brandes (Trades, Portfolio), Donald Smith (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Richard Snow (Trades, Portfolio), Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Arnold Schneider (Trades, Portfolio), NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio), Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Tom Russo (Trades, Portfolio), Jeff Auxier (Trades, Portfolio) and Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of AIG in their portfolios. David Abrams (Trades, Portfolio), Caxton Associates (Trades, Portfolio), Jana Partners (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), Whitney Tilson (Trades, Portfolio), Ronald Muhlenkamp (Trades, Portfolio), Third Avenue Management (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) and Howard Marks (Trades, Portfolio) sold their stakes in the first quarter.

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Another new buy in Paulson’s portfolio was an investment in Computer Sciences Corp (CSC, Financial), a Falls Church, Virginia-based provider of information technology services and professional services. Paulson bought 4,180,000 shares for an average price of $62.51 per share. The purchase had a 1.43% impact on his portfolio and made CSC the 20th-most valuable stake in Paulson’s portfolio.

CSC has a market cap of $9.63 billion and an enterprise value of $9.98 billion. It has a Price/Book of 2.9 and a Price/Sales of 0.8. Jana Partners (Trades, Portfolio), Brian Rogers (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Dodge & Cox, Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio) and Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of CSC in their portfolios. Larry Robbins (Trades, Portfolio) sold his stake in the first quarter.

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