"Tracking Carl Icahn’s Portfolio – Q1 2015 Update"
"Carl Icahn’s US long portfolio increased from $31.90B to $32.05B this quarter.Substantial stakes in Chesapeake Energy, Federal Mogul Corporation, and Manitowoc Company along with a minutely small stake in Voltari Corporation were increased.The huge Apple stake is now at 20.48% of the US long portfolio.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Carl Icahn’s US stock portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on Icahn’s regulatory  filed on 05/15/2015. Please visit our  to get an idea of his investment philosophy and our  highlighting the fund’s moves during Q4 2014.This quarter, Icahn’s US long portfolio increased marginally from $31.90B to $32.05B. The number of holdings in the portfolio decreased from 22 to 21: Talisman Energy stake was disposed of this quarter and no new positions were added. The portfolio is very concentrated with the largest five positions accounting for ~75% of the entire holdings: Icahn Enterprises (30.44%), Apple Inc. (20.48%), CVR Energy Inc. (9.45%), eBay Inc. (8.33%), and Federal Mogul Corporation (5.76%).Carl Icahn is best known for building sizable stakes in businesses and then pushing for changes to increase shareholder value. To learn more about his investing style and philosophy check-out “”.Stake Disposals:Talisman Energy (TLM): TLM was a very small 0.30% of the US long portfolio position established in Q3 2013. In Q4 2013, the stake was increased by over ten-times to a 2.91% of the US long portfolio position at an average cost-basis of around $11.79. The stake was sold this quarter at prices between $7.44 and $7.83.Note: On December 16, 2014 Repsol SA (REPYY) agreed to acquire TLM for $8 per share and that transaction closed earlier this month.New Stakes:None.Stake Decreases:None.Stake Increases:Chesapeake Energy (CHK): CHK was first purchased in 2010 but was quickly sold. The bulk of the current stake was purchased in Q2 2012 at prices between $14.50 and $23. This quarter saw a ~10% increase at prices between $13.50 and $21.26. The stock currently trades at $14.75. Icahn successfully engaged in a proxy fight alongside Southeastern Asset Management that led to the eventual departure of the CEO. The ownership stake in Chesapeake is at ~11% (~73M shares).Note: The implied performance of this stake by the prices quoted above is negatively skewed because of the spinoff of Seventy Seven Energy (SSE), its Oilfield Services business unit. The terms of the deal called for CHK shareholders to receive one share of SSE for every 14 shares of CHK held.Federal Mogul (FDML): FDML is a very long-term stake first purchased in 2000. It went through an asbestos-claim related bankruptcy and emerged in 2007 with Icahn owning over 75% of the outstanding shares, as debt he owned got converted into equity. The position was increased marginally in the last two quarters of 2011 at prices between $13 and $23. In Q3 2013, his share count increased by ~58% (over 44M shares) - the new shares were purchased by exercising FDML’s rights offering (In May, Federal-Mogul launched a $500 million rights offering whereby shareholders could purchase an additional share for each one they currently held) at $9.78 per share - Icahn got 44M of the 51M shares purchased in the offering. The stock currently trades at around $12.96. This quarter saw a ~14% increase at prices between $12.61 and $16.09. Icahn controls ~82% of the business. It is Icahn’s fifth-largest position at 5.76% of the US long portfolio.Manitowoc Company (MTW): MTW is a small 0.71% of the portfolio activist stake. It was established last quarter at prices between $16.60 and $23.05 and increased by ~136% this quarter at prices between $17.69 and $22.83. The stock currently trades at $19.85. For investors attempting to follow Icahn, MTW is a good option to consider for further research.Note: Carl Icahn reached an agreement with Manitowoc in February whereby he got a board seat. Also, Manitowoc’s Cranes and Food Services businesses will be separated in a spinoff.Voltari Corporation (VLTC): VLTC position was increased by ~600% this quarter to a 52.3% ownership stake. As a percentage of the portfolio, the position is still minutely small. The stake increase came about from Voltari’s rights offering in February: 95% of the issued shares were acquired by Icahn by making use of the oversubscription privilege at a cost-basis of $1.36. The stock currently trades at $7.97 having risen more than 7x in the last two months.Note: VLTC rights offering is another example of hedge funds exploiting inefficiencies in the mechanism. Per the terms of the offering, ordinary shareholders had oversubscription privilege at $0.97 but they overwhelmingly chose not to exercise even the basic right, let alone the oversubscription privilege. Basically, rights offerings involve investors having to put more money to keep their ownership interest at the same level - as new money is involved, most ordinary investors shy away from it leaving the door open for savvy investors to take advantage.Kept Steady:Apple Inc. (AAPL): The original stake in AAPL was established in mid-August 2013 at around $68 per share. It was increased by ~22% in Q4 2013. In Q1 2014, another 2.8M shares (pre-split share count:  ~60% stake increase) were purchased at prices between $57 and $80. The stock currently trades at $130. Apple is the second largest position in the portfolio at 20.48%. Icahn is very bullish on Apple and recently said the fair-value is $240.CVR Energy Inc. (CVI): CVI is a huge 9.45% of the US long portfolio position first purchased in Q4 2011. The bulk of the current position (71.2M shares: 80% of the whole business) was purchased through a $30 per share tender offer in H1 2012. The stock currently trades at $39.64: it has been a roller-coaster ride with the stock reaching as high as $72.32 in May 2013 and a low of $33.62 in Nov 2013.Two MLPs were carved out since the tender: CVR Refining (CVRR) the refining portion and CVR Partners (UAN) the nitrogen fertilizer unit. CVR Energy owns 71% of CVR Refining and 53% of CVR Partners.CVR Refining LP (CVRR): CVRR is a small 0.39% of the US long portfolio position established in Q1 2013 as a result of the spin-off (carve-out) of CVR Refining from CVR Energy. The position was increased by 50% in Q2 2013 at prices between $28 and $35. The stock currently trades well below that range at $19.98.Ebay Inc. (EBAY): EBAY is a large (top-five) 8.33% of the US long portfolio position (~3.8% of the business) established in Q1 2014 at prices between $51 and $59. The position was increased by ~11% in Q2 2014 at prices between $48 and $56 and by ~49% in Q3 2014 at prices between $50 and $56.63. Last quarter also saw a marginal increase. The stock currently trades at $59.15. The initial stake was first disclosed in eBay’s FY 2013 earnings release when it was also revealed that Carl Icahn proposed spinning off PayPal and nominated two board members. On 4/10/2014, an agreement was reached that prevented an immediate proxy fight. On 9/30/2014, eBay announced plans to spinoff PayPal into a separate publicly traded company.Gannett Inc. (GCI): Icahn holds 14.97M shares (~6.6% of the business) of GCI at a cost-basis of around $31. The original stake is from Q2 2014 with the bulk purchased the following quarter. The stock currently trades at $36.63 and the stake is at 1.73% of the US long portfolio.Herbalife (HLF): HLF is a 2.27% of the US long portfolio stake first purchased in Q1 2013 in the high-30s price range. The position was marginally increased in Q2 2013 to almost 17M shares. The stock currently trades at $51.50. Bill Ackman is on the other side of this trade - short 20M shares since Q4 2012. Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn ended their feud in May 2014 and they have agreed to disagree on HLF. HLF is being investigated by the FTC (Civil Investigative Demand - CID).Hertz Global Holdings (HTZ): HTZ is a fairly large 3.51% of the US long portfolio position. It was established in Q3 2014 at a cost-basis of $28.35. Last quarter, the stake was increased by just over one-third at prices between $19.38 and $25.47. The stock currently trades at $20.50. Icahn owns 11.34% of the business. For investors attempting to follow Icahn, HTZ is a very good option to consider for further research.Hologic Incorporated (HOLX): HOLX is a 3.52% of the US long portfolio activist stake established in Q4 2013 at around $21 per share. Icahn currently has a 12.5% stake in the business and have nominated two representatives to the board. In early December 2013, a new CEO (Stephen MacMillan formerly of Stryker) was appointed stemming hopes that Icahn might immediately push for the sale of the business. But, later that month Stephen MacMillan confirmed that his focus will be on growing the business. The stock currently trades at $34.89.Icahn Enterprises (IEP): IEP is a very long-term position that has seen consistent buying over the years. In 2013, the position size increased from ~98M shares to ~102M shares and 2014 saw a further increase to ~109M shares. Last quarter saw a marginal increase. The last big increase happened in 2012 when around 20M shares were purchased at prices between $36.50 and $42.50. The stock currently trades at $90.89.Navistar International (NAV): NAV is a relatively small 1.50% of the US long portfolio position that was increased by ~12% in Q3 2013 at prices between $27.50 and $40. Q2 2014 saw a ~8% increase at prices between $31.93 and $38.35 and last quarter saw a further ~14% increase at prices between $29.10 and $37.76. The stock currently trades near the low-end of those ranges at $28.57. Icahn controls 19.99% of the business.Netflix Inc. (NFLX): NFLX is a 1.84% of the US long portfolio position first purchased in Q3 2012 at prices between $53 and $85. The stake was increased by ~300% in Q4 2012 in the 50s price-range. Over the last five quarters, the position was sold down by ~75% at prices between $304 and $485. The stock currently trades at $622. Icahn harvested large long-term gains from the position. It was originally an activist stake but Icahn soon backed-off as the company started posting strong financial results.Nuance Communications (NUAN): NUAN is a 2.72% of the US long portfolio stake established in Q1 2013 at prices between $18 and $25. The position was increased by roughly two-thirds in Q3 2013 at prices between $18.31 and $20. The stock currently trades well below the low end of those ranges at $16.84. Icahn’s ownership is currently at over 17% of the company (~61M shares). Nuance adopted a poison-pill provision that allowed shareholders to purchase additional shares, if any one shareholder acquired more than 20% of the outstanding shares. On October 8, 2013 Nuance yielded somewhat by appointing two new Icahn recommended directors, thus avoiding a proxy fight. For investors attempting to follow Icahn, Nuance is a very good option to consider for further research.Seventy Seven Energy (SSE): SSE is a minutely small 0.06% of the US long portfolio position established in Q3 2014 as a result of the spin-off of SSE from Chesapeake Energy. Chesapeake Energy shareholders received one SSE share for 14 Chesapeake Energy shares held. Icahn’s current stake is consistent with that ratio. The stock is currently at $5.81. Icahn controls 9.34% of the business and the stock is down a whopping ~76% since the spin-off.Transocean Ltd. (RIG): RIG is a small ~0.98% of the US long portfolio stake first purchased in Q4 2012 at prices between $44.20 and $49.50. The position was increased by ~250% in Q1 2013 at prices between $44 and $60. The stock currently trades well below those ranges at around $19.26.American Railcar Inds. (ARII), Enzon Pharmaceuticals (ENZN), and Mentor Graphics (MENT): These are relatively small (less than 2% of the US long portfolio) positions that were held steady this quarter.  Although the stakes are small on a relative basis, the percentages owned of the businesses concerned are very significant. Icahn owns 55.60%, 13.7%, and 14.2% of ARII, ENZN, and MENT respectively.Icahn also owns significant stakes in the following OTC stocks as per latest 10Q: 73.3% of Viskase Companies (VKSC) and 67.9% of Tropicana Entertainment (TPCA).The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Icahn’s US stock holdings in Q1 2015:Note: 13D/13G/A Updates: MTW - 10.58M shares compared to 4.5M in 13F, 7.81% - separation of cranes and food services businesses settlement agreement. GCI - two directors to the board, HTZ - 51.92M shares - 11.34% - same as 13F, Navistar - 16.27M shares - 19.99% - same as 13F."