Seth Klarman’s Baupost Loads Up On AMZN, GOOGL — Takes New Stake In Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square

The billionaire investor’s hedge fund also established a sizable position in CME Group while trimming Restaurant Brands International.

• Baupost bought nearly $13 million worth of Pershing Square Inc. in the second quarter.
• The firm established a nearly $137-million position in CME Group, parent of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
• Baupost increased its Amazon stake, making it the firm’s largest disclosed equity holding, and raised its position in Alphabet.

Billionaire investor Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group took a new position in Bill Ackman’s asset management company, Pershing Square Inc. (PS), in the second quarter while adding to some of its biggest technology bets and establishing a much larger position in CME Group Inc. (CME). Among those technology bets were Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), with Baupost increasing its positions in both during the quarter.

At the time of writing on Friday afternoon, AMZN stock was trading 0.65% lower, GOOGL shares were down 0.42%, and PS stock was lower by 0.24%. 

Baupost Takes New Positions

The Boston-based investment firm disclosed a small stake in Pershing Square, valued at nearly $13 million as of June 30, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. Baupost established a much larger position in CME Group, the parent of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, valued at nearly $137 million at quarter-end, according to a regulatory filing.

Klarman also leaned further into two of the biggest technology companies in the quarter. Baupost increased its Amazon position by about 20%, to 3.74 million shares valued at roughly $892 million.

The firm boosted its Alphabet stake by about 16%, to roughly 1.37 million shares. The position was valued at nearly $490 million at the end of June.

Klarman Cuts Restaurant Brands Stake

Klarman pared several sizable holdings. Baupost cut its Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR) position by more than 16% to about 6.75 million shares, worth around $490 million.

The regulatory filings offer only a snapshot of Baupost’s U.S.-listed equity holdings at the end of the quarter and don’t disclose short positions.

AMZN, GOOGL, PS Stocks: Retail Sentiment

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for both AMZN and GOOGL was ‘bearish,’ while message volume was ‘low.’ Meanwhile, retail sentiment for PS was ‘bullish,’ while message volume was ‘high.’

GOOGL stock has gained nearly 11% year-to-date, AMZN shares have added 13.5%, and PS stock has gained nearly 72% during the same period. 

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