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Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square Capital took a new stake in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, according to a new regulatory filing.
Pershing Square bought roughly 3.5 million shares of Class B shares, worth about $685 million at Wednesday’s close. This is the first new position for Ackman’s fund since it bought Starbucks last year.
Ackman was on track for a record year halfway through 2019. The net asset value of his publicly traded vehicle, Pershing Square Holdings, rose 47.6% through August, according to a regular update to the fund’s website. The returns far outperformed the broader market. The S&P 500 was up 13% in the same time frame.
Pershing Square’s recent rally is thanks to a handful of stock picks, including Chipotle Mexican Grill, Starbucks and Howard Hughes Corp. Ackman manages the public vehicle’s portfolio though investment firm Pershing Square Capital Management.
In early 2018, the fund’s assets were down by roughly half from their $20 billion peak in 2015. Pershing Square’s net asset value dropped by 4% in 2017, compared to a nearly 20% rally in the S&P 500 that year.
Berkshire’s Class B shares have been dropping since May, and are down about 7% this month.
Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway has been loading up on shares of Amazon. The Omaha, Nebraska-based holding company announced an 11% increase in its Amazon stake in a regulatory filing Wednesday. Buffett first announced an investment in the e-commerce giant in May.
