Carl Icahn Top Stocks: Yahoo! Inc., Motorola Inc., Biogen Idec Inc, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Carl Icahn On His Stocks and Stock Market in General (Video)

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Oct 10, 2009
(GuruFocus, October 10, 2009) Investment Guru Carl Icahn is known as a nadvocate for shareholder’s right and for his activism investment approach. His long career has rewarded him enormously. In 2008 his net worth was US$14 billion, putting him in an eight way tie for the 46th richest man in the world.In 2009 Forbes recalculated his net worth as $9 billion, but now he is in an eight way tie for the 43rd richest man in the world.


Typically he will enter a substantial equity position or if it is a re-organization situation, a controlling debt position. He will then seek for board seats and saying in how the business should be run, which CEO should hire, or whether the company should purse a M&A. Here is a video in which he discussed some of his investments and his assessment for the current "bear market rally":




GuruFocus tracks his stock holdings. As of June 30, 2009, he held $2.76 billion in 19 stocks. Here are the top holdings:


No. 1: Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO, Financial), Weighting: 34.3% - 60,452,099 Shares


Yahoo! Inc. is a global Internet communications commerce and media company that offers a comprehensive branded network of services. Yahoo! Inc. has a market cap of $23.68 billion; its shares were traded at around $16.87 with a P/E ratio of 38.3 and P/S ratio of 3.3. Yahoo! Inc. had an annual average earning growth of 20.4% over the past 5 years.


Icahn bought 55 million shares of YHOO in 2Q08 and upped it to 60 million shares in 4Q08.


Mr. Icahn successfully gained a seat on Yahoo’s board last year and helped to install Carol A. Bartz as the company’s chief executive, replacing the company’s co-founder, Jerry Yang, in the hope of sealing some sort of deal with Microsoft . While the deal did not materialize, Yahoo! And Microsoft did enter a strategic search engine relationship.


Recently, Carl C Icahn sold 12,706,552 shares of YHOO stock on 08/31/2009 at the average price of $14.9; the price of the stock has increased by 13.22% since.


No. 2: Motorola Inc. (MOT, Financial), Weighting: 28.77% - 119,790,447 Shares


Motorola Inc. is a global leader in providing integrated communications solutions and embedded electronic solutions. Motorola Inc. has a market cap of $19.46 billion; its shares were traded at around $8.48 with and P/S ratio of 0.6.


Icahn bought 55.3 million shares in 2Q07. He upped his hand to 144 million shares in 3Q08 but sold down to 120 million shares in 4Q08. He maintained his position in 2Q09.


On January 30, 2007 Motorola (MOT) said it received notice that Icahn owns about 33.5 million shares, representing a 1.39% interest in the company and pressed for a seat on its board. But he was turned down by the majority of the stock holders in the election for Board Directors which was held on May 8. On May 7, 2007, Icahn's quest for a board seat on Motorola is effectively ended, as the company announced the next day that in a preliminary count of the votes for board members Icahn did not have enough to be elected. Icahn stated that he would not sell his shares in the company. On March 24, 2008 Icahn sued Motorola as part of his efforts to gain 4 seats on Motorola's Board and force a sale of its mobile business.


No. 3: Biogen Idec Inc (BIIB, Financial), Weighting: 21.04% - 12,860,205 Shares


IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Biogen Idec Inc has a market cap of $14.16 billion; its shares were traded at around $49.01 with a P/E ratio of 13.3 and P/S ratio of 3.4.


Icahn bought 2.7 million shares in2Q07 and increased through 3Q08 to 14 million shares. In 1Q09, he reduced it to 12.8 million shares, a position he held steady during 2Q09.


Icahn's hedge funds currently own 5.6% of biotechnology company Biogen Idec. Beginning in 2007, Icahn has steadily increased his stake in Biogen, seeking to possibly acquire, break-up, and/or sell off various parts of the organization. As of June, 2009, Icahn has managed to seat two of his allies on Biogen's board with the apparent goal of splitting the company into two entities and possibly replacing CEO James C. Mullen, of whom he has been highly critical. Watch the video in the beginning of this article for the story.


No. 4: Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMLN, Financial), Weighting: 6.34% - 12,971,328 Shares


Amylin Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company. Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a market cap of $2 billion; its shares were traded at around $14.2 with and P/S ratio of 2.3.


Icahn owns 13 million shares or 9.2% of AMLN.


No. 5: Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF, Financial), Weighting: 3.36% - 16,578,120 Shares


Lions Gate Entertainment is a producer and distributor of motion pictures, home entertainment, television programming, animation and video-on-demand content. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. has a market cap of $703.2 million; its shares were traded at around $6 with and P/S ratio of 0.5.


Icahn bought 4.1 million shares of LGF in 2Q07 and increased throught Q09 to 16.6 million shares or 14%. After the close of the quarter, Icahn bought 17,600 shares of LGF stock on 07/06/2009 at the average price of $5.26; the price of the stock has increased by 14.07% since.


No. 6: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN, Financial), Weighting: 1.63% - 2,508,001 Shares


Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a market cap of $1.48 billion; its shares were traded at around $18.41 with and P/S ratio of 6.2.


Icahn owns 2.5 million shares (3.13%) of REGN since 3Q07.


Comments


Icahn was trained as a doctor but left the field before graduation. He started his investment career in 1961. Among the top holdings, three of them are pharmaceuticals (BIIB, AMLN, and REGN). One can see why those fall into his circle of competence.


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