Billionaire investor and Edelman protégé Barry Rosenstein currently manages the $4.82 billion fund, Jana Partners LLC. According to the most recent 13-F filings, the fund’s third quarter moves were rife with big changes, from additions and reductions to scratching the board on holdings. Rosenstein pulled the trigger on Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE: HPE) and offloaded positions in NuVasive, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUVA) while he ramped up his fund’s stake in EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT).
JANA Partners LLC, formed in 2001 is named after Barry Rosenstein’s four children’s initials. Prior to founding JANA, He was the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Sagaponack Partners, L.P. from 1993 to 2001. A C.P.A. charter holder, Mr. Rosenstein received his M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania – The Wharton School of Business in 1984 and his B.S. from Lehigh University Phi Beta Kappa in 1981.
Rosenstein began his career as an Investment Banker specializing in mergers and acquisitions at Merrill Lynch in 19080’s. His illustrious career includes stints with Reatta Partners, Plaza Securities Corporation, Tum 2, Inc., Waterworks Operating Company LLC, Tuneup Masters, Inc., Signs USA, Revtech, Inc., Pacific Wireless, Inc., Cobra, Inc., Product Resources, Inc., Triangle Signs, Inc., Princeton Photo Network Inc., and Test America, Inc.
According to TipRanks, Jana Partners LLC has consistently underperformed against average hedge fund portfolios and S&P 500 benchmarks over the past few quarters.
Let us now take a deeper look at the fund’s latest Q3 moves and how they have fared.
Sells Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE)
Tech giant HPE got the scorched earth policy from the hedge fund this time, as Rosenstein has struck all shares in the tech giant in Q3. Since selling out, the stock has declined by -4.21%.
The announcement of CEO Meg Whitman’s retirement and mixed results are weighing on HPE. However five-star rated Oppenheimer analyst Ittai Kidron remains optimistic about the future prospects of HPE. In the latest report, Kidron wrote: “HPE reported mixed results with soft January-quarter guidance. The big news is that CEO Meg Whitman is stepping down effective 2/1/18 and will be replaced by HPE veteran Antonio Neri (current HPE President; formerly head of Enterprise Group; started at HP in 1995). Ms. Whitman will remain on the board. We view Mr. Neri as a logical choice given his knowledge of the company. Overall, we believe that trends in the underlying business are more positive than the headline numbers suggest, with solid results in HPE’s target growth areas. The encouraging top-line trends in multiple product areas (HPC, networking, storage, technical services) combined with HPE Next provide an attractive setup for improved fundamentals in FY18/FY19.” He has a buy rating and $17 price target on the stock (30% upside potential).
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