Soros fund cuts investment in Microsoft
Tue May 16, 2006 9:58 AM ET
WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - Billionaire financier George Soros slashed his investment fund's stake in Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's No. 1 software company, from 1.38 million shares to 251,750.
Soros Fund Management reported the change late on Monday in a U.S. regulatory filing that details its holdings as of March 31.
The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission also disclosed that Soros had taken up a 857,400-share stake in Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which recently completed its acquisition of Guidant Corp. to create one of the world's largest medical device companies, and a 698,500-share stake in communications equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO.O: Quote, Profile, Research)
The fund has also snapped up small portions of H&R Block Inc. (HRB.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and 10,000 Class A shares of Google Inc. (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research)
H&R Block, the largest U.S. tax preparer, restated its annual financials from 2004 and 2005 in late March, and last week cut its outlook for 2006, citing weak results for its mortgage services.
Soros reported some changes in financial exchange ownership, more than doubling its stake in Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. (NDAQ.O: Quote, Profile, Research) to 553,200 common shares and taking on a 89,750-share stake in NYSE Group Inc. (NYX.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
As of March 31, the fund's total fair market value was $2.72 billion, up from $2.48 billion on Dec. 31, filings show. |
