Steven A. Cohen's investment-firm SAC Capital Advisors on
Thursday disclosed an increased stake in Zynga Inc., now owning
more than 5% of the game maker's shares.
Zynga's shares were up 2.2% to $4.58 in recent after-hours
trading. While the stock has risen 18% so far in 2014 through
Thursday's close, it is far off the all-time high of nearly $16 in
March 2012. Zynga made its debut on the public market in late
2011.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, Mr. Cohen now owns 38.7 million shares, or 5.3%, of
Zynga's stock, a stake that includes about 1.7 million shares held
by Sigma Capital Management LLC with the rest held by SAC. As of
Dec. 31, SAC held 15.8 million Zynga shares.
The increased stake makes Mr. Cohen the largest Zynga
shareholder, just slightly above The Vanguard Group's 5.1% stake as
of Dec. 31.
Zynga made its name with games like "FarmVille," played on
personal computers through a Web browser. Most of the titles were
aimed at casual audiences, with themes such as building a farm or
playing word games. When the company went public, most of its games
were designed for Facebook Inc.'s social network, but within months
the company's growth slowed amid a shift of players moving from
games on websites to mobile devices.
Zynga earlier this year announced a large acquisition of
NaturalMotion to boost a push into mobile, while at the same time
cutting deeply among its ranks for the third time in two years.
SAC, meanwhile, is undergoing its own transformation. Last year,
SAC agreed to settle criminal charges, pay a fine of almost $1.2
billion and cease managing outside money, which it did earlier this
year. Nine current or former SAC employees were convicted on
criminal charges related to insider trading. Mr. Cohen wasn't
criminally charged.
SAC is being renamed Point72 Asset Management and making a
transition into a so-called family office, and as such will manage
only Mr. Cohen's personal fortune.
Write to John Kell at john.kell@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires