Soros Fund Management LLC, founded by billionaire investor George Soros, added 5.7 million shares to its stake in the Israeli drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA) during the last quarter of 2013, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 14.
The filing revealed that Soros’ stake in the pharma company was 9.3 million shares, or $373 million, representing 4% of the fund’s total stock portfolio, reportedly around $9.2 billion.
The news comes after Teva, which despite the imminent loss of exclusivity for its top-selling drug, the multiple-sclerosis treatment Copaxone, still remains the world’s largest producer of generic drugs, named turn-around specialist Erez Vigodman as its new CEO in January, replacing Jeremy Levin, who resigned in October following a dispute with Teva’s board.
Teva said earlier this month that its 4th-quarter earnings climbed 5.5%, beating analyst estimates. The earnings of the Israeli firm was $1.42 per share without including one-time items on revenue of $5.43 billion, representing a rise of 3%. This outperformed analysts’ estimates of $1.40 a share excluding items on revenue of $5.19 billion. The stock, currently trading at $44,19 a share, has risen 10.25% so far this year.
The filing also showed the 83-year old Soros, estimated to be 29th-richest person in the world, with a net value of $22.9 billion, purchased new stakes in banking giants JP Morgan (JPM) and Citigroup (C) in the 4th quarter. Soros also boosted holdings in General Motors (GM).
Industry data showed George Soros’ fund earned a staggering $5.5 billion in 2013, its second best year on record since its inception in 1973, according to a report in The Financial Times.
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