24/7 Wall St. » GGP

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BZH, BHP, CCL, FDX, GGP, INTC, LLTC, LOGI, MTH, PNRA, POT, RYL, STLD, SF, TSLA, USB, WYNN)

Administrator — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:24:06 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Tuesday morning.

Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE: BZH) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE: BHP) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: LLTC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Logitech International SA (NASDAQ: LOGI) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE: MTH) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Raised to Sector Outperform at CIBC.
Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE: RYL) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE: SF) Raised to Buy with $37 target at Goldman Sachs.
Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) Raised to Buy at Wunderlich.
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Raised to Positive at Susquehanna.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BHP, BZH, CCL, FDX, GGP, INTC, LLTC, LOGI, MTH, PNRA, POT, RYL, SF, STLD, TSLA, USB, WYNN

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AAPL, GGP, UA, PLD, AKAM, WSM, PRGS, OSH, AVEO, KIOR, ASM, AONE, ARL)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:09:36 +0000

US stock markets rallied on the first morning of trading in the new year. Index futures were up sharply and trading zoomed past the mark to rise more than 2%. Strong manufacturing data from Asia gave US markets a nice boost, as did a better-than-expected report on the ISM index and a rise in US construction spending. The S&P 500 could not overcome a technical barrier, causing the market to move mostly sideways in the afternoon. Crude oil rose steeply on a weaker dollar and on the better economic news. WTI crude is up more than 4% at $103.00/barrel and Brent crude is up 4.76% at $112.14. Gold is also stronger today, up about 2.5%, at $1,605.80.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 180 points to 12.397.46 (1.47%), the NASDAQ rose more than 43 points (1.67%) to 2,648.72, and the S&P 500 rose 1.55% or more than 19 points to 1,277.05.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) had its target price lowered to $513 at Morgan Keegan; General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) cut from ‘outperform’ to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) raised to ‘outperform’ with a target price of $90 at Baird; Prologis Inc. (NYSE: PLD) started as ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo; Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) cut from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’ at Janney Capital Markets; and Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) cut to ‘sell’ at Janney.

There were no earnings reports of note scheduled today. Progress Software Corp. (NASDAQ: PRGS) is scheduled to report earnings at 4:30 p.m. today.

Orchard Supply Hardware Stores Corp. (NASDAQ: OSH) completed an IPO today. Shares were initially priced at $25 and rose as high as $60 during the day before settling to $27.05, up more than 8% with less than half an hour of trading time left.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Aveo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AVEO) is down more than -19% at $13.90. The pharmaceutical maker reported that its liver cancer drug performed better than a competitor in late-stage trials, but investors were expecting a larger improvement.

Kior Corp. (NASDAQ: KIOR) is down more than -10% at $9.12. The alternative fuel maker had no news, but is likely getting bashed on the expiration of US ethanol subsidies.

Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. (AMEX: ASM) is up nearly 17% at $1.66. The junior miner is riding the coattails of an overall upsurge in materials stocks today, which have been leading the markets higher all day.

A123 Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) is up more than 24% at $2.00. The battery maker is a partner with Satcon Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: SATC) in a demonstration project on micro-grid energy storage for the US Department of Defense.

American Realty Investors Inc. (NYSE: ARL) is up more than 12% at $2.10. The real estate investment company has no news, but continues to rise on upbeat news about the housing market.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Automakers are scheduled to release sales data throughout the day. US seasonally adjusted annual sales are expected to remain at 13.6 million cars and light trucks. Here are the noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
10:00 a.m. – Factory orders report for November (consensus estimate for gain of 2%)
11:30 a.m. – 4-week Treasury bill auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AAPL, AKAM, AONE, ARL, ASM, AVEO, GGP, KIOR, OSH, PLD, PRGS, UA, WSM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AKAM, ANGI, AAPL, CBE, FIO, GGP, GES, PETD, PMCS, PLD, REG, RS, UA, PANL, VTR, WSM)

Administrator — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:20:51 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street brokerage and research firms this Tuesday morning.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) Cut to Neutral from Buy at Janney Capital Markets.
Angie’s List, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus; Started as Perform at Oppenheimer; Started as Buy at Janney Capital Markets.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) lowered price target to $513 from $530 at Morgan Keegan.
Cooper Industries plc (NYSE: CBE) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Fusion-io, Inc. (NYSE: FIO) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Guess?, Inc. (NYSE: GES) Cut to Underperform from Neutral as Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Petroleum Development Corporation (NASDAQ: PETD) Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
PMC-Sierra Inc. (NASDAQ: PMCS) Cut to Neutral with $6 target at Goldman Sachs.
Prologis, Inc. (NYSE: PLD) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Regency Centers Corporation (NYSE: REG) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Company (NYSE: RS) named as value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Raised to Outperform with $90 target at Baird.
Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ: PANL) maintained Hold and lowered estimates and target to $35 at Canaccord Genuity.
Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR) Raised to Long-Term Outperform and named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) Cut to Sell at Janney Capital Markets.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, AKAM, ANGI, CBE, FIO, GES, GGP, PANL, PETD, PLD, PMCS, REG, RS, UA, VTR, WSM

America’s 10 Highest Paid CEOs (Which Are Worth It?)

Charles B. Stockdale — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:22:17 +0000

Several lists of the highest paid CEOs in America are published each year mostly by the business media and shareholder groups. All are based on proxy statements. Long before the lists are published, the boards of directors of these companies try to justify the compensation packages for shareholders. Investors often are skeptical of these defenses, and they should be. It is rare, but not impossible, to show that a chief executive deserves $50 million, or even $100 million a year.

Read America’s 10 Highest Paid CEOs

Based on the annual CEO Pay Survey 2011 by GMI, 24/7 Wall St. identified the 10 highest paid CEOs. We then analyzed company performance of the highest paid CEOs to determine which pay packages were worth the investment.

Such a review about management compensation is by its nature subjective and different from a board’s reasoning. A board may take into account the long-term record of a CEO who has held his or her job for several years. The board might set a pay package based on an extraordinary year. The directors also may pay a CEO well just before he or she retires. 24/7 Wall St. has downplayed each of these factors, but has not eliminated them. Our judgment of “fairness” is based on what shareholders received in the year as the CEO’s compensation year. Our primary measurements are revenue growth, earnings growth and stock price change.

This is the 24/7 Wall St. list of the 10 highest paid CEOs for 2010 and an analysis of whether their compensations were worth the payments in terms of shareholder returns. All compensation considerations used to set pay, which include board of director criteria from each company, come from SEC-filed proxies.

Filed under: General, Special Report Tagged: AET, CVS, GBL, GGP, MCK, OCR, RL, TRW, VNO, VRSK

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (TEVA, AKS, AU, MTN, GGP, SHLO, EBF, RHT, WINN, SHIP, ZNGA, JAKK, BAC)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:08:34 +0000

US equity markets opened a bit higher this morning, after futures trading pared early morning gains. Early optimism, however, was not to pan out, following some rather downbeat remarks from the president of the European Central Bank. Then investors started pounding on financial stocks absorbing finally the Federal Reserve’s intention to accept the Basel III raise to bank capital requirements. Crude oil has risen slightly in trading today, with WTI crude at $93.78/barrel and Brent crude at $103.58. Gold has finished slightly down, at $1,592.90.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 99 points to 11,766.79 (-0.84%), the NASDAQ fell more than 32 points (-1.28%) to 2,523.14, and the S&P 500 fell -1.18X% or more than 14 points to 1,205.32.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: TEVA) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a $52 price target at Canaccord Genuity. Other ratings actions today include AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) raised from ‘market perform’ to ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo; AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU) cut from ‘neutral’ to ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs; Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; and General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) cut from ‘outperform’ to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Shiloh Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHLO) is up 0.35% at $8.52; and Ennis, Inc. (NYSE: EBF) is down more than -4% at $12.89. After markets close today, Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) is scheduled to report third-quarter EPS of $0.26 on revenue of $289.6 million.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN) is up nearly 71% at $9.27. The regional grocery chain has agreed to a buyout offer worth about $560 million from Bi-Lo, another regional chain in the southeastern US. The offer of $9.50/share represents a premium of about 75% to Winn-Dixie’s Friday closing price.

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHIP) is up more than 17% at $2.60, after posting a new 52-week low earlier today. The dry bulk shipper has received a time charter for one of its four Capesize vessels for a period of 11-13 months.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ) is down more than -5% at $9.00. The social game maker held its IPO last Friday, but shares have not been able to hold the $10/share offering price. More coverage here.

JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK) is down more than -19% at $14.00, after posting a new 52-week low of $13.45 earlier today. The toy and consumer products maker lowered full-year earnings and sales guidance this morning.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is down nearly -4.5% at $4.97, after posting a new 52-week low of $4.93 earlier today. The bank has been hit with concerns over new capital reserve requirements and the effect that will have on profits.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Here are other noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – November housing starts report
1:00 p.m. – Five-year Treasury note auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AKS, AU, BAC, EBF, GGP, JAKK, MTN, RHT, SHIP, SHLO, TEVA, WINN, ZNGA

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AKS, AU, FTE, GGP, HON, LAZ, PNW, GOLD, TEF, TEVA, TMK, UNFI, URI, MTN, WCG)

Administrator — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:23:47 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Monday morning.

AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE: AKS) Raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU) Cut to Sell from Neutral by Goldman Sachs.

France Telecom S.A. (NYSE: FTE) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE: PNW) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Randgold Resources Limited (NASDAQ: GOLD) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Telefonica, S.A. (NYSE: TEF) Cut to Neutral from Overweight at HSBC.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NASDAQ: TEVA) Reiterated Buy with $52 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) Raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
United Natural Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: UNFI) Raised to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) Raised to Top Pick at RBC.
Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) named as value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AKS, AU, FTE, GGP, gold, HON, LAZ, MTN, PNW, TEF, TEVA, TMK, UNFI, URI, WCG

Ten Highest Paid CEOs of 2010 (MCK, OCR, TRW, VRSK, CVS, GGP, RL, VNO, AET, GBL)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:07:59 +0000

When it comes to executive pay, the amounts paid to today’s highest paid CEOs equals the GDP of a small emerging nation. The ten most highly compensated CEOs according to a recent survey by GMI took home about $770 million, more than the GDP of Vanuatu or Samoa, among others.

The GMI survey measures what the firm calls “total realized compensation,” which is further defined as “compensation that has been received by the CEO, rather than any notional estimates, accounting costs, or other uncertainties.” Here’s the list:

CEO	Company	Ticker	Compensation
John Hammergren	McKesson Corp.	MCK	$145,266,971
Joel Gemunder	Omnicare, Inc.	OCR	$98,283,242
John Plant	TRW Automotive Holdings Corp.	TRW	$76,841,646
Frank Coyne	Verisk Analytics, Inc.	VRSK	$69,416,726
Thomas Ryan	CVS Caremark Corp.	CVS	$68,079,823
Adam Metz	General Growth Properties, Inc.	GGP	$66,707,460
Ralph Lauren	Polo Ralph Lauren Corp.	RL	$66,651,515
Michael Fascitelli	Vornado Realty Trust	VNO	$64,402,468
Ronald Williams	Aetna, Inc.	AET	$57,787,786
Mario Gabelli	GAMCO Investors Inc.	GBL	$56,608,736

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Compensation Tagged: AET, CVS, GBL, GGP, MCK, OCR, RL, TRW, VNO, VRSK

Blackstone Group Still Holds Many Large Stock Positions After IPOs (BX, BKU, FSL, GGP, NLSN, OWW, TMH, TRW)

Administrator — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:11:19 +0000

The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) may look like it has a huge portfolio of public stocks to many investors. While that is actually true, the bulk of this is due to its portfolio companies coming public and it being forced (or wanting to) hold on to a large number of shares. Its total value of public equities (and options) was listed as $5.98 billion as of September 30, 2011.

The larger positions worth $100 million or more are as follows:

BANKUNITED, INC. (NYSE: BKU) at $284.851 million for 13,721,131 shares.

FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR HOLDINGS, LTD. (NYSE: FSL) at $2.16 billion for 196,136,895 shares.

GENERAL GROWTH PROPERTIES INC. (NYSE: GGP) at $604.3 million for 49,942,980 shares.

NIELSEN HOLDINGS N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) at $1.436 billion for 55,095,361 shares.

ORBITZ WORLDWIDE INC. (NYSE: OWW) at $119.45 million for 55,046,598 shares.

TEAM HEALTH HOLDINGS, INC. (NYSE: TMH) at $583.01 million for 35,506,563 shares.

TRW AUTOMOTIVE HOLDINGS CORP. (NYSE: TRW) at $637.85 million for 19,488,416 shares.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Mutual Funds, Private Equity Tagged: BKU, BX, FSL, GGP, NLSN, OWW, TMH, TRW

Expected Upside in Lifestyle-Oriented REITs (HCN, SNH, UDR, ESS, CPT, RLJ, DRH, HHC, GGP)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:28:00 +0000

The number and types of real estate investment trusts (REITs) is both large and varied, and, thus, better taken in smaller chunks. Our focus today hits those REITs that offer senior living centers, apartment buildings, and some mixed-use properties.

We’ve also culled some stocks from today’s list because either they don’t pay a dividend — or pay a low dividend for a REIT — or the company has already surpassed its current median target price. The companies we’ve selected are Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE: HCN), Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH), UDR, Inc. (NYSE: UDR), Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS), Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT), RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE: RLJ), Diamondrock Hospitality Co. (NYSE: DRH), The Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC), and General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP).

Howard Hughes Corp. is not a REIT, but its operations are a near-identical fit with those of the trusts. It does not pay a dividend, but its upside potential is significant and we include it here as a “quasi-REIT.”

All data from Yahoo! Finance, and share prices were collected in the early afternoon today.

Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE: HCN) has a median target price of $53.00 from 13 brokers. Shares are trading today at $49.61, for an implied gain of $3.39, or 7%. HCN’s forward P/E is 13.11 and the company pays a dividend yield of 5.6%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $41.03-$55.21, and at today’s price that’s about 21% above its 52-week low and 10% below the 52-week high.

HCN today completed a secondary offering of 12.65 million shares priced at $50/share. The company raised $632.5 million, which it plans to use for future investment, to pay down debt, and for general corporate purposes. Shares had been trading near the target price in advance of the offering. The attractive dividend yield makes the stock worth considering.

Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) has a median target price of $24.00 from 7 brokers. Shares are trading today at $21.27, for an implied gain of $2.73, or 13%. SNH’s forward P/E is 7.31 and the company pays a dividend yield of 7%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $19.09-$24.66, and at today’s price that’s about 11% above its 52-week low and 14% below the 52-week high.

Senior Housing Properties pays the highest dividend of any stock in this group and there is still headroom a nice implied gain. The 52-week high is barely above the target price, which could indicate a target price boost soon.

UDR, Inc. (NYSE: UDR) has a median target price of $27.00 from 18 brokers. Shares are trading today at $24.31, for an implied gain of $2.69, or 11%. UDR’s forward P/E is 17.12 and the company pays a dividend yield of 3.2%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $20.04-$27.26, and at today’s price that’s about 21% above its 52-week low and 11% below the 52-week high.

UDR has been able to raise its rents due to its strategy of buying apartment properties in cities where job growth is better than average and higher priced housing is performing better.

Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS) has a median target price of $145.00 from 20 brokers. Shares are trading today at $135.09, for an implied gain of $9.91, or 7%. Essex’s forward P/E is 20.9 and the company pays a dividend yield of 3%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $105.60-$148.44, and at today’s price that’s about 28% above its 52-week low and 9% below the 52-week high.

Essex’s target price is lower than its 52-week high and its forward P/E is higher than average as well, indicating that the stock could be priced at very near its full value. The 7% implied gain is further evidence that expectations for growth are not all that rosy.

Filed under: REIT Tagged: CPT, DRH, ESS, GGP, HCN, HHC, RLJ, SNH, UDR

Whale Watching Stocks: Paulson, Soros, Berkowitz, Icahn, Einhorn (GLD, HPQ, RIG, BAC, JPM, WFC, C, AAPL, BBY, WMT, MA, AIG, BAM, CSCO, SHLD, GGP, GE, DYN, AMGN, SUG, CVS, GM)

Administrator — Mon, 16 May 2011 22:42:02 +0000

We have already seen (some) of the position changes of Warren Buffett, but the old guy wouldn’t share many ‘confidential positions’ so we are whale watching in other ponds. We wanted to take a look through some of the key changes in holdings of John Paulson, George Soros, Bruce Berkowitz, Carl Icahn, David Enihorn, and others. In order to save on space and time, we are only addressing some of the biggest changes that we thought stood out the most rather than hitting all of the positions of every whale fund manager.

Paulson & Co. Inc. had some changes.

One change Paulson did not make was in the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD). That may have been lightened up since the March 31 date as some rumors indicated, but that 13F filing showed that the March 31 position was called as 31.5 million shares worth some $4.4 billion as of March 31.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is a new position of 25 million shares worth just over $1 billion for Paulson. Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) was listed 24.5 million shares versus only about 7.2 million shares the previous quarter.

Soros Fund Management LLC cut gold and banks.

SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) was slashed down to a mere 49,400 shares worth $6.9 million at the end of March 31, 2011. If that is not a massive gold exit, what is?

The big bank position cuts came in. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) was slashed down massively to 29,400 shares, as if Soros just didn’t get the sales in before the close on that day. Soros cut stakes in J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and in Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC). JPMorgan was 624,600 shares worth $28.7 million and Wells Fargo was just over 3.5 million shares worth $111.1 million as of March 31. The exception in banks was a larger stake in Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) listed as 2.938 million shares worth some $129.8 million. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was down to 230,433 shares worth $80.3 million for Soros, but there are some 210,000 shares worth of call options and some 280,000 shares worth of Put options listed. SOme elimination positions that no longer appear are Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was the smallest changes ever, mainly because Buffett kept new positions confidential with the SEC.

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was the only new Berkshire Hathaway position and it was too small to even matter for Berkshire Hathaway.

Bruce Berkowitz of Fairholme Captal Management made some key changes.

Berkowitz appears to have trimmed American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) slightly and that is listed as almost 44.2 million shares but there are many warrants listed. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (NYSE: BAM) was announced as a new position of 27,500,000 shares worth some $892 million. Bruce Berkowitz must also be on the move in Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) as he bought more than 35.8 million shares worth some $614 million as of March 31. Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) was also a gain of about 1.4 million shares to a higher count of more than 16.3 million shares worth some $1.35 billion.

Berkowitz slashed eliminated his entire stake in General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP). That had previously been more than 100 million shares worth more than $1.7 billion. He also eliminated General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), down from almost 16 million shares previously noted.

Carl Icahn’s changes are not as numerous on the surface and some appear to have been known.

Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN) was up to more than 14.4 million shares, but that figure may be more now. Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) appears as a new position with 1.02 million shares worth some $54.5 million shares. SOuthern Union Co. (NYSE: SUG) was listed as a new position for Icahn as well, but this was only 186,154 shares worth some $5.328 million.

David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital also made some key Changes.

Greenlight gave a green light to new positions in Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) at about 6 million shares worth over $172 million and 3.275 million shares of CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) worth more than $110 million. General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was also a new position of more than 3.5 million shares worth more than $100 million.

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Again, keep in mind that these are just some of the whale watching trades that took place in the first quarter of this year. There were too many to focus on individually and we wanted to focus on some of the more apparent trades that were in identifiable names for the investing public.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Activist Investor, Banking, business and finance, Conglomerates, Corporate Governance, Editor's Picks, Insider Activity, Mutual Funds Tagged: AAPL, AIG, AMGN, BAC, BAM, BBY, C, CSCO, CVS, DYN, GE, GGP, GLD, GM, HPQ, JPM, MA, RIG, SHLD, SUG, WFC, WMT