D.E. Shaw, Griffin's Citadel, Cohen's Point72 & OZ Management Lead This Week's Hedge Fund Moves

Tracking hedge fund activity is central in many investment strategies. This article will take a look at some of the most relevant moves from this week in order to provide readers with some interesting ideas.

On Monday, D.E. Shaw & Co. declared a 30 percent increase in its wage on Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ: LMCA).This stake now comprises 5,323,173 shares of Series A Common Stock, worth more than $190 million at current stock prices, and represents 5.1 percent of the company’s shares outstanding.

This position makes of David E. Shaw’s fund the largest institutional investor in the media, communications and entertainment company, trailed by other relevant funds like Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which last disclosed ownership of 4 million Liberty Media Series A shares.

Citadel Advisors, the hedge fund with more than $100 billion in equities, managed by Ken Griffin, said it had trimmed its exposure to Seritage Growth Properties (NYSE: SRG),a small-cap real estate investment trust (REIT).

As of July 8, the fund held 3,841,273 shares of Class A Common Stock. By July 21, its holdings had descended to 2,389,134 shares, or 9.7 percent of the company’s outstanding stock.

Also on Monday, Daniel S. Och’s Oz Management disclosed a new position, with 3,305,552 Ordinary shares, in Bitauto Hldg Ltd (ADR) (NYSE: BITA). The stake, worth almost $140 million at the current valuation, accounts for 5.22 percent of the company’s shares outstanding.

This bet makes of OZ Management the second-largest institutional investor in the Chinese company, only trailing Tiger Global Management, which last disclosed holding 5,922,953 shares.

Finally, Steven Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management said that it had placed a new bet on InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE: IOC), a small-cap oil and gas exploration and production company, and reduced its exposure to Olin Corporation (NYSE: OLN), which had seen it increase its stake twice this month. The wage on InterOil comprises 3,104,638 shares of Common Stock, representing 6.3 percent of the company’s outstanding stock, while the bet on Olin now amounts to 4,018,283 shares, or 5.2 percent of the company, down from a previous 4,943,953 shares.