After reviewing the list of top five insider purchases, we realized that we have written about the two that we found interesting in the past including Energy Transfer LP (ET) and Axon Enterprise, Inc. (AXON). We covered Axon in an article titled A Tale of Two Insider Purchases last week. This week we ventured beyond the top transactions and decided to instead focus on an interesting purchase by a famous activist investor, Bill Ackman.
When I think of Bill Ackman, I wonder which story about the billionaire founder of Pershing Square Capital remains etched in investor’s memories. Whether it was the unflattering Vanity Fair article from a decade ago titled Billionaire Bill Ackman’s Ill-Fated Bike Ride: “His Mind Wrote a Check That His Body Couldn’t Cash” or his public feud with Carl Icahn on CNBC about Herbalife, which Mr. Ackman believed was a criminal enterprise.
“I’ve about had it with this guy. He’s like the crybaby in the schoolyard.” – Carl Icahn
Considering the big 76% drop in Herbalife (HLF) over the last five years and the challenges Carl Icahn is facing due to the Hinderberg short report about Icahn Enterprises (IEP), Bill Ackman is probably feeling pretty good right about now. Unfortunately for him, he closed the Herbalife short years before the stock started its big decline.
Mr. Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management runs a concentrated portfolio and according to their 13-F filing and form 4 filings, 100% of the portfolio is concentrated in their top 10 positions. Howard Hughes (HHC) is one of the fund’s top five positions, representing roughly 12% of the 13-F portfolio. Bill Ackman serves as the Chairman of the Board of Howard Hughes.