Factbox: Tech stocks in focus as investors eye latest filings from funds

Nu Holdings

14/08/2024 17:04

NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Investors are watching
quarterly filings on Wednesday to get a glimpse at how some of
the world’s biggest money managers were positioned at the end of
the second quarter, a period marked by a series of record highs
in the S&P 500 that preceded a more recent bout of turmoil in
U.S. stocks. 
    Filed at the end of each quarter, the 13-F filings are one
of the few ways to get a snapshot of how often-secretive market
participants such as hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds are
positioned, though they are backward looking and don’t reveal
current holdings. 
    The S&P 500 rose nearly 4% from the beginning of April until
the end of June, notching nine consecutive record highs in a
rally fueled by excitement over artificial intelligence and
expectations that the Federal Reserve will be able to lower U.S.
inflation without hurting growth. 
    Markets turned frothy at the start of the third quarter.
Worries over rich valuations hit many of the market's tech
heavyweights, including chipmaker Nvidia  NVDA.O , the
poster-child of the AI rally. Concerns over the U.S. economy and
a rate hike from the Bank of Japan roiled markets further,
spurring a sharp early-August plunge in the S&P 500. The index
has made up much of those losses in recent days. 
    Here is a snapshot of how some of the biggest funds were
positioned at the end of July:
    
    SOROS FUND MANAGEMENT
    The family office of billionaire investor George Soros
completely dissolved its $26.6 million worth at the end of March
stake in Microsoft (or 63,340 shares) and sold all 103,000
shares they owned in Advanced Micro Devices  AMD.O  in the
second quarter, while also reducing exposure to other big tech
companies, such as Amazon  AMZN.O , Uber Technologies  UBER.N ,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company  TSM.N  and Meta
Platforms. Soros dissolved a sizable put position, which is
typically seen as bearish, in the exchange-traded fund iShares
iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond. 
    
    SAUDI PUBLIC INVESTMENT FUND    
    The Saudi Public Investment Fund closed out its position in
weight loss biotech Allurion Technologies Inc  ALUR.N , selling
nearly 1.2 million shares. It tripled its position in the
Brazilian digital banking company Nu Holdings Ltd  NU.N , adding
approximately 2.6 million shares, and added to existing call
positions – which are typically seen as bullish - in large
technology stocks including PayPal  PYPL.O , Microsoft  MSFT.O ,
and Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc  META.O . 
    The fund held roughly $20.7 billion in US stocks in the
second quarter. In the first quarter, it had slashed its
holdings nearly in half, to $18 billion. 
    
    JANA PARTNERS
    Activist investor Jana Partners built a new stake in U.S.
enterprise software company BlackLine Systems  BL.O  during the
second quarter. Jana owned 1.15 million shares on June 30,
equivalent to a near 2% stake.
    

 (Reporting by Carolina Mandl and David Randall in New York;
Additional reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Ira
Iosebashvili and Nick Zieminski)
 ((carolina.mandl@thomsonreuters.com; +1 (917) 891-4931;))