Jeff Ubben Makes Large Transactions in Second Quarter

Guru acquires more than 11 million shares of American Express

Sep 24, 2015

Jeff Ubben (Trades, Portfolio)’s ValueAct Holdings LP likes to accumulate large stakes in undervalued companies. Ubben made some large buys – and sales – of his own in the second quarter.

Ubben’s most significant second-quarter transaction was his sale of 4,389,616 shares from the most valuable stake in his portfolio, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX, Financial), a Montreal-based pharmaceutical company, for an average price of $221.34 per share. The deal had a -4.82% impact on Ubben’s portfolio.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals has a market cap of $71.45 billion and an enterprise value of $105.49 billion. It has a P/E of 99.0, a P/B of 11.8 and a P/S of 7.8.

Ubben also reduced his stake in Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE, Financial), a San Jose, Calif.-based computer software company, selling 303,014 shares for an average price of $77.96 per share. The transaction had a -0.12% impact on Ubben’s portfolio.

Adobe Systems, Ubben’s sixth-most valuable stake, has a market cap of $41.74 billion and an enterprise value of $40.23 billion. It has a P/E of 116, a P/B of 6.1 and a P/S of 9.8. PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio), Frank Sands (Trades, Portfolio), Steve Mandel (Trades, Portfolio), Lee Ainslie (Trades, Portfolio), Eric Mindich (Trades, Portfolio), Dodge & Cox, Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) and Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Adobe Systems in their portfolios.

Ubben bought an 11,100,000-share stake in American Express Co. (AXP, Financial), a Manhattan-based financial services company, for an average price of $79.32 per share. The deal had a 4.54% impact on Ubben’s portfolio.

American Express has a market cap of $74.91 billion and an enterprise value of $111.06 billion. It has a P/E of 13.1, a P/B of 3.4 and a P/S of 2.3.

Ubben sold two stakes in his portfolio – Precision Castparts Corp. (PCP, Financial) and Wesco International Inc. (WCC, Financial).

Ubben sold his 569,185-share stake in Precision Castparts, a Portland, Ore.-based industrial goods company, for an average price of $209.95 per share. The transaction had a -0.66% impact on Ubben’s portfolio.

Precision Castparts has a market cap of $31.49 billion and an enterprise value of $35.74 billion. It has a P/E of 22.5, a P/B of 2.8 and a P/S of 3.3.

Ubben divested himself of his 1,064,800-share stake in Wesco International, a Pittsburgh-based holding company, selling his holding for an average price of $71.68 per share. The deal had a -0.41% impact on his portfolio.

Wesco International has a market cap of $2.15 billion and an enterprise value of $3.46 billion. It has a P/E of 10.3, a P/B of 1.2 and a P/S of 0.3. Columbia Wanger (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio), Robert Olstein (Trades, Portfolio), Scott Black (Trades, Portfolio) and John Burbank (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Wesco International in their portfolios.

Ubben added to four existing stakes in the second quarter – Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (FOX, Financial), Agrium Inc. (AGU, Financial), Halliburton Co. (HAL, Financial) and CBRE Group Inc. (CBG, Financial).

Ubben added 13,196,334 shares to his fourth-most valuable stake, Twenty-First Century Fox, a Manhattan-based mass media company, paying an average price of $33.16 per share. The transaction had a 2.24% impact on Ubben’s portfolio.

Twenty-First Century Fox has a market cap of $52.99 billion and an enterprise value of $65.75 billion. It has a P/E of 6.8, a P/B of 3.1 and a P/S of 1.9.

Ubben purchased 2,040,446 shares of Agrium, a Canadian agriculture products company and Ubben’s eighth-most valuable stake, for an average price of $105.21 per share. The deal had a 1.14% impact on Ubben’s portfolio.

Agrium has a market cap of $13.25 billion and an enterprise value of $17.4 billion. It has a P/E of 18.3, a P/B of 2.0 and a P/S of 0.9.

Ubben is Agrium’s leading shareholder among the gurus; NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Westport Asset Management (Trades, Portfolio), David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio), Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio), John Buckingham (Trades, Portfolio) and Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Agrium in their portfolios.

Ubben bought 3,761,500 shares in Halliburton, a Houston-based oilfield services and equipment company and Ubben’s third-most valuable stake, for an average price of $46.04 per share. The transaction had a 0.85% impact on Ubben’s portfolio.

Halliburton has a market cap of $31.69 billion and an enterprise value of $36.8 billion. It has a P/E of 20.9, a P/B of 2.0 and a P/S of 1.0.

Halliburton reported this week that it will be sending out layoff notices in the next two weeks. Halliburton, which had cut about 16% of its global workforce by the end of June, did not specify how many jobs would be affected but confirmed that most will be in the United States.

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