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Some top investors exit Herbalife, Soros added shares in fourth quarter

February 17, 2015 at 05:09 pm EST

BOSTON (Reuters) - Three of the top 20 investors in Herbalife Ltd liquidated their positions during the fourth quarter when the nutrition and weight loss company missed Wall Street earnings estimates, but Soros Fund Management increased its holdings by roughly 80 percent, regulatory filings show.

Hedge fund manager Richard Perry, who had been Herbalife's fifth-largest shareholder, dumped his firm's entire 5.6 million- share stake sometime between October and the end of December, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows.

Soros Fund Management, which ranked among the 15 largest investors, had a different take on the company, however, adding 1.5 million shares to own 3.4 million shares at the end of December. Investors are required to tell the U.S. regulator what U.S. stocks they owned 45 days after the end of the quarter.

Investments in Herbalife have been closely watched since activist investor William Ackman first accused the company of running an pyramid scheme in 2012 and rival investor Carl Icahn became the company's biggest owner in 2013. Herbalife has steadfastly denied Ackman's charges of being a fraud. The company is being investigated by state and federal regulators.

While Ackman and Icahn stuck with their respective bets on the short and long side, other prominent investors sold as the company's share price fell 50 percent last year.

Hedge fund Okumus Fund Management got rid of all of its 1.9 million shares and Tiger Consumer Management, which owned 1.8 million shares, liquidated its position as well.

Herbalife said on Nov. 3 that it had missed quarterly earnings targets for the second time in a row when its third-quarter profit tumbled 92 percent. The company also warned that net sales would drop in the fourth quarter.

Kerrisdale Capital, run by Sahm Adrangi, also liquidated its holdings, selling 63,588 shares.

Huber Capital cut its stake 13 percent to 1.6 million shares.

But as the share price fell, Soros Fund Management snapped up more shares, the filing shows. In the third quarter, the firm, which manages the personal fortune of billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros and his family, slashed its stake by 60 percent. Soros bought into Herbalife in the second quarter of 2013, and benefited from the stock's 145 percent gain in 2013.

This year, Herbalife's shares have fallen 8.65 percent.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss)

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

Stocks mentioned in the article

	Add to a list Add to a list 0 selected To use this feature you must be a member Log in Sign up	Price	Change	5d. change	Capi.
	HERBALIFE LTD.	8.81 USD	-0.79%	-0.34%	886M

George Soros

George Soros lived the Hungary’s Nazi occupation. With Jewish origin, he was forced to change his name in 1936 (György Schwartz). He escapes from communist regime in 1947, and he arrives in Great Britain. In London he follows the philosopher anti communist Karl Kopper’s courses at London School of Economics. In 1956 he emigrated to United States with one objective in mind: to win half million dollars. Mission completed, in 2011 his fortune amounted to $14,5 billion and he was the 46th richest man in the world, according to Forbes.

When he had arrived in New York he founded his first investment fund The Soros Fund, which will be the first stone of Soros’ financial empire. In 1973 he founded Quantum Fund with Jim Rogers. For ten years this fund will break all records in terms of gains.

The most of people know him during the great depression of 1992. He speculated on sterling’s fall, and he caused important fluctuations such as the British currency was forced out of the monetary system. This bet allowed him to earn a billion in one night and he was called as “the man who broken the Bank of England”.

He is also a philanthropist. With Open Society Institute which group together twenty foundations with a goal to defend human rights and promote democratic governance. George Soros describes himself as a “stateless head of state”. Since 1984, thanks to his foundations he distributed more than $ 8 billion to various humanitarian causes in 70 countries around the world.

The man, who wanted to be a philosopher, thanks to his foundation he participates in the transformation of society. The speculator has become the destroyer of excessive liberalism.

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Soros Fund Management LLC Soros Fund Management LLC Investment ManagersFinance Soros Fund Management LLC (SFM) is a privately-held investment management firm now structured as a family office, but which was once a hedge fund manager. The firm was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in New York City. SFM serves as principal investment adviser to a group of funds managed for the benefit of Soros family cl fsients.	Founder
Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations Investment Trusts/Mutual FundsMiscellaneous The Open Society Institute works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSI builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSI places a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities. Investor and philanthropist George Soros in 1993 created OSI as a private operating and grantmaking foundation to support his foundations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Those foundations were established, starting in 1984, to help countries make the transition from communism. OSI has expanded the activities of the Soros foundations network to encompass the United States and more than 60 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Each Soros foundation relies on the expertise of boards composed of eminent citizens who determine individual agendas based on local priorities.	Founder

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