Soros Fund Management’s new trades in Q313 (Part 5 of 6)
Soros Fund Management is a large private fund run by the legendary team of famed investor George Soros. In Q3 2013, it started new positions in Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Fedex Corp. (FDX), Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA), and Halliburton (HAL), and sold Delta Airlines (DAL) and United Continental Holdings (UAL).
Abbreviated financial summaries and metrics for these securities are included below. Detailed analysis and recommendations require a subscription (more information at the bottom of the article).
Why sell Delta Airlines (DAL)?
Shares of airline companies including Delta Airlines soared recently on the back of a settlement of litigation on the US Airways, AMR merger deal. Delta Airlines reported positive 3Q 2013 earnings driven by strong trans-Atlantic performance and business demand in Delta’s Atlanta and New York hubs. It repurchased $100 million in stock in 3Q and paid $51 million in dividends. Analysts expect the US airline industry stocks to do well in the future because of cost cutting and consolidation efforts taken by the airline companies to improve its profits. Moreover, the declining fuel costs and economic turnaround have been favoring these companies.
Delta Airlines provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo throughout the United States and around the world.
Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. With a leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 314 destinations in 58 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry’s leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita.
The current Delta Air Lines is the result of many airline mergers over a period of more than 80 years. The most recent merger was with Northwest Airlines on October 29, 2008 and at the time formed the world’s largest airline. United Continental (UAL), JetBlue (JBLU), AMR (AAMRQ) and US Airways (LCC) are some of its competitors.
Soros Fund Management was formerly a famed global macro hedge fund run by George Soros, a multi-billionaire investor, who is famous for betting against the British pound earlier in his career. The fund was started in 1969 and in 2010 was reported to be one of the most profitable hedge funds in history, earning over 20% annual returns over 40+ years. The firm formerly was the adviser to the famous Quantum group of funds, but now is private.
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Browse this series on Market Realist:
- Part 1 – Soros Fund Management starts new positions in MSFT, FDX, TEVA, HAL, Sells DAL, UAL – 13F Flash (A)
- Part 2 – Soros Fund Management starts new positions in MSFT, FDX, TEVA, HAL, Sells DAL, UAL – 13F Flash (B)
- Part 3 – Soros Fund Management starts new positions in MSFT, FDX, TEVA, HAL, Sells DAL, UAL – 13F Flash (C)
- Airline Industry
- Investment Company Information
- Soros Fund Management
- Delta Airlines
- George Soros
- United Continental Holdings