Ackman's Pershing Square Loads Up On Visa (V), Sells Dr Pepper (DPS) and Wendy's (WEN)


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February 18, 2009 5:12 PM EST

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square hedge fund released its 13F for the quarter ended December 31, 2008 yesterday. Notably, Ackman bought more of the credit card processor Visa (NYSE: V) but sold out of MasterCard (NYSE: MA). He also significantly cut his stakes in Dr Pepper Snapple (NYSE: DPS) and Wendy's/Arby's (NYSE: WEN).

Ackman had some big winner in 2008, but also some big losers. Winners included short sales on MBIA (NYSE: MBI), Ambac (NYSE: ABK), Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) which were all destroyed from the credit/housing blow-up. Winning longs included Longs Drugs, which was sold to CVS (NYSE: CVS). Ackman's losers centered mainly around retail. Ackman's special fund to buy shares in Target (NYSE: TGT) has been destroyed, down a reported 90%. Other retail positions in Borders (NSYE: BGP) and Barnes and Noble (NYSE: BKS) were also big losers.

Summary of Major Changes in Ackman's Pershing Square Portfolio:


  • Showed new large stake in General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP) (already known through 13D)
  • Raised stake in Visa (NYSE: V) by over 4 million share to 7.1 million shares
  • Changes in Target (NYSE: TGT) position
  • Slightly bumped stake in EMC (NYSE: EMC) to 58.6 million shares, or about 2.9% of the company
  • Lowered stake in Dr Pepper Snapple (NYSE: DPS) by over 11 million shares to 10.8 million shares
  • Lowered stake in Wendy's/Arby's (NYSE: WEN) by over 8.5 million shares to 47 million shares.
  • Sold out of 570K share stake of MasterCard (NYSE: MA)
  • Sold out of AIG (NYSE: AIG) (this was already known)
  • Sold out of Barnes and Noble (NYSE: BKS) (this was already known)
  • Maintained Borders (NYSE: BGP) stake (already known through 13D)


Two of Ackman's holdings, Longs Drug (NYSE: LDG) and Wachovia (NYSE: WB), were sold during the quarter.


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ABK 0.52

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AIG 26.82

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BGP 0.23

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Volume: 350
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BKS 13.26

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CVS 42.83

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DPS 38.64

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EMC 26.45

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FNM 0.25

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FRE 0.34

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GGP 16.71

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Volume: 2,759,882
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LDG 71.51

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MA 396.65

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MBI 12.07

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TGT 52.36

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V 112.71

-1.19 -1.04%
Volume: 5,519,971
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WB 5.54

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Volume: 79,673,174
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WEN 5.20

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Volume: 5,338,302
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