“SAC Capital Advisors LP and Viking Global Investors LP were among hedge funds that sold a net 6.1 million shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) last quarter, taking advantage of the 48 percent jump in the iPhone maker’s stock,” Adam Satariano reports for Bloomberg.
“Hedge funds accounted for more than a third of the 15.2 million net Apple shares that were sold by endowments, banks, insurance companies and other investors during the first quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, which was aggregated from regulatory filings,” Satariano reports. “Even so, Apple remains hedge funds’ most valuable holding. As a group they controlled 37.8 million shares as of March 31.”
Satariano reports, “Hedge-fund trades are closely followed by investors looking for clues on where the market is headed. Based on Apple’s price of $599.55 on March 30, the last business day of the quarter, sales by hedge funds had a market value of $3.66 billion. The last time hedge funds were net sellers of Apple shares was in the first quarter of 2011, when they dumped 7.25 million shares.”
“Not all hedge funds were net sellers. David Einhorn, co-founder of Greenlight Capital Inc., said Apple shares deserve to be higher,” Satariano reports. “‘Apple is the most misunderstood company in the market,’ Einhorn said yesterday at the Sohn Investment Conference in New York. ‘Apple is still penetrating the market and gaining share.’ Greenlight held on to its 1.46 million shares last quarter, according to Bloomberg data.”
Read more in the full article here.
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