"Tracking Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Portfolio – Q1 2015 Update"
"Ackman’s US long portfolio decreased from $16.04B to $14.97B this quarter.Pershing Square’s largest stake is Valeant Pharmaceuticals at ~26% of the US long portfolio.The largest three positions are Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Air Products & Chemicals, and Canadian Pacific Railway and together they account for ~64% of the portfolio.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Pershing Square’s US long portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on Ackman’s regulatory  filed on 05/15/2015. Please visit our  article for an idea on how his holdings have progressed over the years and our  highlighting the fund’s moves during Q4 2014.Ackman’s US long portfolio decreased ~7% from $16.04B to $14.97B this quarter. The number of positions increased from 7 to 8. The portfolio remains heavily concentrated with a few huge bets. The top three positions account for 63.62% of the total portfolio value: Valeant Pharmaceuticals (25.84%), Air Products & Chemicals (20.77%), and Canadian Pacific Railway (17.01%).In Q2 2014, Pershing Square unveiled plans to do an Initial Public Offering (IPO) as a means to increase the amount of capital that is permanent. Pershing Square Holdings (PSHZF) debut on Euronext Amsterdam in October 2014. At the time, Ackman said their total capital is $18B of which around one-third is Pershing Square Holdings.To learn more about Bill Ackman, check-out the book “”.New stakes:Actavis plc (ACT): ACT is a 2.68% of the US long portfolio stake established this quarter at prices between $255 and $317. The stock currently trades at $296.60.Note: In March 2015, Actavis succeeded in a takeover battle for Allergan Inc. over Ackman backed Valeant Pharmaceuticals.Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX): VRX is Ackman’s largest position at 25.84% of the US long portfolio. The stake was established this quarter at prices between $143 and $205. The stock currently trades outside that range at $225.Note: In early 2014, Ackman collaborated with Valeant (VRX) in its effort to buy Allergan in a hostile takeover. That effort failed, but on November 17, 2014 Actavis plc (ACT) agreed to buy AGN.Stake Disposals:Allergan Inc. (AGN):  AGN was a very small 0.88% of the US long portfolio stake established in Q1 2014 at prices between $110 and $132. On 04/21/2014, Ackman disclosed a huge 9.7% ownership in the business. It was his largest holding at 35.30% of the US long portfolio as of last quarter. The average-cost-basis was in the low $120s. AGN acquired Actavis plc for $219 per share in a cash-and-stock deal ($129.22 cash and 0.3683 Actavis stock for each share held) and that transaction closed on March 17, 2015. All told, the AGN position netted him an estimated $2.6B in less than twelve months.Stake Increases:Zoetis Inc. (ZTS):  ZTS was a small 1.52% of the US long portfolio position (5.5M shares) established in Q3 2014 at prices between $31.79 and $37.20. Last quarter saw a whopping 650% stake increase and that was followed with a minor increase this quarter. The overall cost-basis is around $37. Ackman controls 8.3% of the business and the stake is now at 12.93% of the US long portfolio. The stock currently trades at $46.49.Stake Decreases:None.Kept Steady:Restaurant Brands International (QSR) previously Burger King Worldwide (BKW): QSR is a ~9.75% of the US long portfolio stake. Tim Hortons and Burger King Worldwide merged and renamed the resultant entity as Restaurant Brands International. Pershing Square had a huge investment in BKW and those shares got exchanged for QSR shares. The original BKW stake was established in Q3 2012 at prices between $13.03 and $15.88. The stock currently trades at $42.14.Platform Specialty Products (PAH): On 01/23/2014, Ackman disclosed a huge new stake in Platform Specialty Products Corporation (PAH) in a 13G filing. Pershing Square was a PAH investor prior to its NYSE IPO: Ackman had invested in Platform Acquisition Holdings, an investment vehicle incorporated in the London Exchange (since renamed Platforms Specialty Products). They acquired MacDermid (a US listed business that was taken private for ~$1.3B in an MBO transaction in 2007) in a $1.8B deal in Q4 2013. The NYSE IPO followed and the London listing was cancelled. The stock currently trades at $26.64 and has returned almost 85% since the IPO. Last quarter saw a ~28% stake increase at prices between $20.97 and $27.74. The overall cost-basis is around $14 with the recent stake increase (9.4M shares) at $25.64.Air Products & Chemicals (APD): In Q2 2013, a new 8.44% of the US long portfolio APD stake was purchased at prices between $92.80 and $96.59. By Q4 2013, the position was more than doubled at prices between $91 and $107. It has since been kept steady. The stock currently trades at around $149 and the stake stands at 20.77% of the US long portfolio - it is Ackman’s second-largest position after Valeant. Pershing Square owns 9.8% of the shares outstanding in APD and they are very bullish. It is an activist stake and Ackman has enjoyed some success - the  and three new board members were appointed in June 2014.Howard Hughes Corp (HHC): HHC is a small 3.69% of the US long portfolio position that was established in 2010 as a result of its spin-off from General Growth Properties (GGP). The stake has remained untouched during the whole period. The stock returned ~63% in 2013 and ~24% since. Ackman called HHC one of the best kept secrets on Wall Street at the Harbor Investor Conference in February 2013.Canadian Pacific Railway (CP):  CP is Pershing Square’s third-largest 13F position at 17.01% of the US long portfolio. The stake was established in Q3 2011 with the bulk purchased in Q4 2011 at prices between $46.05 and $71.82. The stock currently trades at around $180. Ackman reigned in management and board changes at the company by winning a proxy battle in May 2012. The position was reduced by ~26% in Q4 2013 at prices between $123 and $157. Q2 2014 also saw a ~19% reduction at prices between $144 and $185. Ackman is opportunistically harvesting huge long-term gains from this position.Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) are other long positions in the partnership - the holdings were disclosed in 13D filings on November 15, 2013 - as they are not , they are not listed in the 13F report. Ackman holds just under 10% of the outstanding shares of both these businesses - 115.57M shares of FNMA at an average cost-basis of ~$2.30 and 63.5M shares of FMCC at an average cost-basis of $2.14. The combined investment outlay was ~$400M and it is currently valued at around $469M. In the Ira Sohn conference in August 2014, Ackman said his conservative case values FNMA & FMCC at ~$23 per share each. The stock prices of both these businesses experienced large price drops following a  in early October 2014. Investors had filed around 20 lawsuits against the US government over Fannie/Freddie and the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s actions as conservator. Other Hedge Funds involved include Perry Capital and Fairholme Capital.Ackman also has large short positions although Herbalife (HLF) is the only one publicly known - there is no regulatory requirement to disclose short positions and so only the ones that Ackman voluntarily discloses are known.The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Pershing Square’s US stock holdings in Q1 2015:Note 1: The latest filing (1/5/2015) on Restaurant Brands International (QSR) shows Ackman owning 38M shares (18.8% of business). It is the result of a merger/rename transaction between Tim Horton’s and Burger King Worldwide.Note 2: The 2/2/2015 on Platform Specialty Products (PAH) shows Ackman owning 42.74M shares (22.2% of business) - the info is the same as in the October 2014 filing but the percentage ownership has decreased as PAH has issued to new shares. This is compared to 33.3M shares as of  last quarter.Note 3: There is also a 2/4/2015 filing on Zoetis - doesn’t seem to have material change compared to the November filing.Note 4: Pershing Square Holdings (Amsterdam:PSH)(OTC:PSHZF) is a way to invest alongside him. So, use that as the primary ticker and adjust the header paragraph to include this.Note 5: for some reason for QSR, Google Finance brings up the TSE quotes by default. So, be careful when updating the pricing info. A user pointed out this mistake in my Q4 2014 update and I corrected the article."