“Hedge fund billionaire Carl Icahn said he bought another half a billion dollars’ worth of Apple Inc stock on Tuesday, signaling confidence in the iPhone maker even after it gave a disappointing revenue forecast for the current quarter,” Jennifer Ablan reports for Reuters.
“The investment, Icahn’s third in Apple in less than a week, boosts the value of stake in the company to more than $4 billion,” Ablan reports. “It was announced via his Twitter account as Apple’s shares traded down about 8 percent following its quarterly report late on Monday, which renewed Wall Street’s concerns about the maturing smartphone market.”
“Icahn told Reuters in a telephone interview that the decline in Apple shares presented ‘a great opportunity’ to add to his position,” Ablan reports. “‘Apple shares are very cheap. They are going at six to seven times earning,’ Icahn said. ‘It’s not like we are holding something that is trading at 100 times earnings.'”
CARL ICAHN: I Just Invested Another $500 Million In Apple http://t.co/ueVF5NdKXd
— Insider Tech Business (@insidertechbiz) January 28, 2014
“Icahn is waging a public campaign to get Apple to return more cash to shareholders and has filed a resolution proposing that it give back $50 billion more through share buybacks,” Ablan reports. “Apple’s management ‘seems to be doing the right thing in running the business but this is a financial issue,’ Icahn told Reuters, arguing that the company should increase its share buyback program… At least 14 brokerages lowered their price targets on Apple following Monday’s results report, reflecting concerns that it was becoming harder to sell high-end phones as markets get saturated.”
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