Hedge Funds Snap Up Cisco, Intel and Yahoo

Date: Friday, May 20, 2011
Author: Frank Byrt, The Street

Hedge funds have been all over the place in their investment choices in the technology sector, so it's been difficult for investors to discern a pattern.

Hedge funds, which manage money for the wealthy, were net buyers of network-equipment company Cisco(CSCO_) as the shares have fallen 17% this year, extending what seems like an interminable decline. They were net sellers of Intel(INTC_), the largest chipmaker, as its shares rose 14%.

Hedge funds added a net 11.9 million shares of Cisco in the first quarter, according to regulatory filings released this week. The company's chief executive officer, John Chambers, has heard calls from some investors who say he's been too slow to develop chips to makers of smartphones, tablets and other devices. Nvidia(NVDA_), Texas Instruments(TXN_) and Qualcomm(QCOM_) have all performed better than their larger rival.

Wolf Fund Management made a big move on Cisco, with an 18 million share purchase in the quarter, boosting its stake to 21.7 million shares. And First Eagle Investments about doubled its stake to 17.6 million shares.

Hedge funds that unloaded their Cisco holdings in the quarter and the amount they sold were: Artis Capital Management, 7.4 shares; Pennant Capital Management, run by Alan Fournier, 6.3 million shares; and Appaloosa Management, run by David Tepper, 6 million shares.