The hedge fund world has soured on Apple – and in some cases the smart money is turning to Facebook instead.
The funds, which helped Apple grow into the world’s most valuable company by piling into its shares, dumped the tech titans shares last quarter, regulatory filings show.
Omega Advisors, Eton Park Capital Management, Farallon Partners, Third Point, among others sold entire stakes in Apple, according to SEC filings this week from the hedge fund world.
“We think very well of Apple, but we have found things that we think are more interesting,” said one large hedge fund seller, who asked not to be named.
At least a couple of those funds upped stakes in Facebook or Google, and others found bargain dollar retail companies attractive.
Omega and Lone Pine Capital went the Facebook route, a stock that sparkled last quarter as Apple lost its shine.
Leon Cooperman’s Omega sold 266,000 Apple shares and picked up 3.16 million shares in Facebook, according to SEC filings.
Lone Pine sold 800,000 Apple shares and picked up almost 11 million Facebook shares and 500,000 in Google, upping its stake in the search giant by 50 percent.
Apple’s shocking drop took the company from an all-time high of about $705 a share in September to about $509 at the end of last year.
Facebook around that time picked up from below $20 to end the year at $25 a share and was recently trading above $30, before settling to $28.27 as of yesterday’s close.
Google was around $650 during its last quarter lows, but it has recently risen to record highs, approaching $800, closing yesterday at $792.89. Apple closed yesterday at $460.16.
While some of the big names who fled Apple said the selling was nothing personal, the company has been feeling the pressure of increased competition in smartphones from the likes of Samsung.
At the same time, Apple’s hold on consumers in the smartphone and tablet markets is loosening. Over the holiday quarter, iPhone 5 sales of 47 million missed expectations that they would sell 50 million.
Sales of the iPad Mini, which cost less than the standard model, put pressure on profits, as well.
The latest issue to resurface for investors is Apple’s $137 billion in cash, which the company has not handled to the liking of shareholders.
David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital, which bought more Apple last quarter, is suing the company to return some of that cash. Einhorn upped his stake 20 percent to 1.3 million shares.
He wasn’t the only one; George Soros and David Tepper also picked up more shares. For those who shed shares, the money in the bank was among the reasons to leave, according to Wall Street analysts.
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Some of the hedge funds selling out of Apple:
- Viking Global Investors-1.1M shares
- Lone Pine Capital-800,000 shares
- Third Point LLC-710,000 shares
- Eton Park Capital-600,000 shares
SEC filings/The New York Post
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