By Liz Moyer and Erik Holm
Hedge fund managers reported significantly reduced--and in some
instances eliminated--stakes in big banks, including J.P. Morgan
Chase & Co. (JPM) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), as well as
food companies such as Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) in the second
quarter.
Billionaire investor George Soros's Soros Fund Management LLC
eliminated positions in J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman, as well as
Citigroup Inc. (C), according to a regulatory filing late Tuesday.
The investment company also reported a new stake in retail giant
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and a 341,000-share stake in Facebook
Inc. (FB).
John Paulson's Paulson & Co. reported no holdings in Metlife
Inc. (MET) and SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI), down from 1.8 million
shares and 5.7 million, respectively, at the end of the first
quarter. Paulson also reported reduced holdings in J.P. Morgan
Chase, Hartford Financial Services (HIG), Capital One Financial
Corp. (COF) and Bank of America (BAC).
Meanwhile, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, BRKB)
reported smaller stakes in consumer giants Kraft and Procter &
Gamble Co. (PG).
Berkshire also reported a new position in oil-field-equipment
maker National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) and increased stakes in
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Wells Fargo &
Co. (WFC), a longtime holding.
The changes suggest an uncommonly active quarter for Mr. Buffett
and Berkshire's new portfolio managers, Todd Combs and Ted
Weschler. In particular, Berkshire's holdings in Kraft and Procter
& Gamble dropped significantly. The positions were revealed in
Berkshire's quarterly 13F filing, a disclosure required by many
large investors.
Berkshire reported its holdings in Kraft were 25% lower at
roughly 59 million shares. The food giant is close to completing a
split into a global snacks company and a North American grocery
business.
Berkshire's stake in P&G fell nearly 20% to about 60 million
shares. Berkshire's apparent retreat from the company comes at a
key time for P&G, which continues to lose market share and is
feeling increasing pressure from activist hedge-fund investor Bill
Ackman.
Pershing Square Capital Management, the fund run by Mr. Ackman,
has 21.8 million shares of P&G and call options on an
additional 8.3 million shares, according to its filing. Pershing
also reported it no longer held a stake in Kraft in the second
quarter, a change from the previous quarter when it held more than
15 million shares.
Mr. Ackman hasn't revealed specific intentions for P&G but
said he is interested in meeting P&G Chairman Bob McDonald.
Activist hedge-fund managers often accumulate a sizeable stake in a
company by purchasing shares and related options before pushing for
corporate changes.
Pershing reduced its Citigroup stake to 1.1 million shares from
26.1 million at the end of the previous quarter.
Another activist investor, Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management
L.P., reported it no longer had a stake in Dominos Pizza Inc. (DPZ)
and lower stakes in Kraft and Tiffany & Co. (TIF) while adding
to a position in Ingersoll-Rand Plc. (IR) and reporting a
previously disclosed stake in Lazard Ltd. (LAZ).
Trian didn't publicly report all holdings as of the end of June.
Confidential information was filed separately with the SEC, the
firm said in Tuesday's filing, as it did at the end of the first
quarter.
In June, Trian revealed it had taken on a 5.6-million-share
stake in investment bank Lazard. In a presentation, Trian said it
supported Lazard management's efforts to cut costs and wring more
profitability out of the firm, and Trian also pushed for governance
changes to Lazard's board.
Trian also increased its holdings of Ingersoll-Rand by 7.5
million shares in the second quarter, according to Tuesday's
filing. In the first quarter, the firm reported it held 5.9 million
shares. On Monday, Ingersoll-Rand said Mr. Peltz would join its
board of directors as he pushes to improve profitability at that
company.
--Amy Or and Brett Philbin contributed to this article.
Write to Liz Moyer at liz.moyer@dowjones.com