Soros 13F Filing Shows Focus On Tech,
Telecom
WASHINGTON -- George Soros essentially turned over his entire portfolio
during the quarter ended Dec. 31, according to a 13F filing made Monday with
the Securities and Exchange Commission by Soros Fund Management LLC.
Out of the 243 investments held on Sept. 30, Soros sold 107 during the fourth
quarter and entered into 175 new ones. The portfolio increased to $8.62 billion
from $4.43 billion during the quarter.
Most of the new positions taken during the quarter were in the technology and
telecom sectors. Soros took new stakes in software company Clarify Inc.
(CLFY - 870,000 shares purchased); telecommunications companies Nextel
Communications Inc. (NXTL - 1,798,500 shares purchased) and Nokia Corp.
(NOK - 1,061,500 shares purchased); software company Oracle Corp.
(ORCL - 4,163,450 shares purchased); Internet security company Verisign
Inc. (VRSN - 942,500 shares purchased); Telecommunicacoes Brasilerias SA
(TBH - 618,200 ADRs purchased) and Telefonos De Mexico SA (TMX -
519,700 ADRs purchased).
Soros also purchased 255,000 shares of America Online Inc. (AOL) common
stock during the fourth quarter as well as $51 million of the company's
convertible zero-coupon bonds due 2019.
The financier opened several smaller new stakes in companies in the
biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector. These included Idec Pharmaceuticals
Corp. (IDPH - 19,650 shares purchased), QLT Phototherapeutics Inc. (QLTI
- 220,000 shares purchased) and Warner-Lambert Co. (WLA - 365,300
shares purchased).
But Soros didn't completely abandon the more "traditional" companies during
the quarter. He also opened new positions in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT -
800,000 shares purchased), airline UAL Corp. (UAL - 785,000 shares
purchased) and energy company Enron Corp. (ENE - 692,700 shares
purchased).
Among the existing holdings, Soros added significantly to CBS Corp. (CBS -
1,083,500 shares purchased), Cendant Corp. (CD - 1,600,000 shares
purchased), EMC Corp. (EMC - 932,700 shares purchased), Genentech Inc.
(DNA - 971,100 shares purchased), Intel Corp. (INTC - 535,900 shares
purchased), Park Place Entertainment Corp. (PPE - 1,350,000 shares
purchased), Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM - 435,400 shares purchased), U.S.
West Inc. (USW - 969,000 shares purchased) and Vodafone Airtouch PLC
(VOD - 880,000 shares purchased).
Soros upped his stake in Corning Inc. (GLW) by 494,200 shares and also
opened a 743,800 share stake in Oak Industries Inc. (OAK), acquired by
Corning in late January.
Positions Disposed Of Include EDS, McDonald's, Tyco Intl
The following are among the larger positions that appear to have been disposed
of by Soros during the fourth quarter:
Electronic Data Systems Inc. (EDS), Genzyme Corp. (GENZ), McDermott
International Inc. (MDR), McDonald's Corp. (MCD), Penn Traffic Co.
(PNFT), Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB), Tricon Global Restaurants Inc. (YUM),
Tyco International Ltd. (TYC) and Visx Inc. (VISX).
Among the positions still held by Soros, the larger sales include Columbia/HCA
Healthcare Corp. (COL - 929,500 shares sold), Dell Computer Corp. (DELL
- 675,500 shares sold), Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd. (GSTRF - 1
million shares sold), MCI Worldcom Inc. (WCOM - 731,200 shares sold),
Parametric Technology Corp. (PMTC - 500,000 shares sold), Priceline.com
Inc. (PCLN - 987,389 shares sold), Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW -
1,241,450 shares sold) and Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN - 636,400 shares
sold).
Not surprisingly, the 10 largest holdings for Soros are much different for the
fourth quarter than for the third quarter. Qualcomm fell to third place from first,
while a newcomer, Oracle, took over the top spot.
Companies missing from the top 10 include Electronic Data Systems, MCI
Worldcom, Biogen Inc. (BGEN), Viacom Inc. Class B (VIA.B) and Penn
Traffic. These companies were replaced by Oracle, Genentech, General
Instrument Corp. (GIC), Nokia and Nextel.
TOP TEN HOLDINGS BY MARKET VALUE
HOLDING
CHANGE
VALUE SHARES
SHARES
OWNED
OWNED
ORACLE CORP. 466,566,000 4,163,450
4,163,450
GENENTECH INC. 400,474,000 2,977,500
971,100
QUALCOMM INC. 340,873,000 1,935,400
435,400
SUN MICROSYSTEMS INC. 331,831,000 4,285,150
(1,241,450)
GLOBALSTAR TELECOMMUNICATIONS 273,713,000 6,220,750
(1,000,000)
MICROSOFT CORP. 272,857,000 2,337,100
49,150
VERITAS SOFTWARE CO. 271,329,000 1,895,750
360,750
GENERAL INSTRUMENT CORP.* 207,723,000 2,443,800
1,631,250
NOKIA CORP. 202,813,000 1,061,500
1,061,500
NEXTEL COMMUNICATIONS INC. 185,511,000 1,789,900
1,789,900
*General Instrument Corp. has since been acquired by Motorola Inc. |
