Sachem Head, Soros liquidated positions in Peloton in first quarter-filings

Momentive Global

13/05/2022 23:04

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
    BOSTON, May 13 (Reuters) - Investment firms Sachem Head
Capital Management and Soros Fund Management exited their
positions in Peloton  PTON.O  during the first quarter as the
stock tumbled and the fitness company replaced its CEO, under
pressure from an activist investment firm, regulatory filings
made on Friday showed.
    Peloton, which makes exercise bikes and treadmills and had
become a market darling during the pandemic, faced heavy selling
during the first quarter and into the second quarter as the
pandemic eased and people returned to gyms.
    Since January the stock price has tumbled 55% to close
trading at $15.87 on Friday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2X22HW
    Sachem Head sold 1.65 million shares some time during the
first quarter, the filing made late on Friday showed. The firm,
which sometimes pushes companies to perform better, first
invested in Peloton late in 2021 as the company's stock price
was already falling. Soros Fund Management exited its position
and sold 335,557 shares.
    Activist investment firm Blackwells Capital, which owns
roughly 5% of the company, began publicly pushing for changes in
January. Within a few weeks the company said it hired Barry
McCarthy, a former Spotify and Nextflix executive, to replace
co-founder John Foley as chief executive officer. Blackwells,
which had pushed Peloton to sell itself, said in a recent
presentation to it is still unhappy with management.
    Both Sachem Head and Soros late on Friday released their
13-F filings which show what money managers held at the end of
the first quarter. While the filings are backward-looking, they
are closely watched for hints on potential trends and insight
into what specific stocks managers liked or soured on.
    Sachem Head also reported new positions in customer service
platform Zendesk as well as Momentive Global, the parent of
SurveyMonkey, which Zendesk had planned to buy. Investors voted
the deal down. Activist investment firm Jana Partners in
February nominated four directors to sit on Zendesk's board and
is pushing the company to review strategic alternatives and
consider selling itself.
    Sachem Head owned 1.8 million shares in Zendesk and 5.7
million shares in Momentive.

 (Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by David Gregorio)
 ((svea.herbst@thomsonreuters.com; +617 856 4331; Reuters
Messaging: svea.herbst.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))