The Morning Brief: Leon Cooperman’s Omega Joins Carl Icahn in Apple Bet

Apple continued its upward path, sparked in recent days by Carl Icahn’s tweet announcing his sizable stake in the stock and Wednesday’s disclosure that Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors bought 31,000 shares of the iPhone and iPad maker. Renaissance Technologies also scooped up more than 714,000 shares in the second quarter. Cooperman told CNBC he bought his shares in the low $400s, asserting the shares are cheap. He also told CNBC he expects a lot of buzz surrounding the introduction of Apple’s new iPhone on September 10. The stock, which closed Wednesday at $498.58, is now up about 27 percent this quarter already.

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Credit Suisse raised its target price on Air Products & Chemicals to $108 from $101. Remember, William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management recently disclosed a 9.8 percent stake in the company. The investment bank said that the company’s returns have come in below a group of four global industrial gas companies over the past five to six years. It also found Air Products came in below the group when it comes to cash flow efficiency, in particular working capital. “As a result, we believe that with a heightened focus on returns and efficiency APD has the potential to improve its performance over time,” Credit Suisse stated in a note sent to clients on Wednesday. Even so, it retained its Neutral rating on the stock.

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Steinway Musical Instruments agreed to be acquired by John Paulson’s Paulson & Co. in a deal valued at $512 million. This is a rare outright purchase of an individual company for the hedge fund manager. However, some analysts expect a higher bid to come along.

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Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group, an eclectic investor that gravitates to whichever asset class offers the most compelling returns, lifted the size of its U.S. stock portfolio by one-third, to $4 billion, according to its most recent 13F filing. Its largest holdings are Viasat, a communications equipment company, and energy giant BP. It also established a new $595 million stake in chipmaker Micron Technology. Klarman also sold his entire stake in Newscorp. However, the media company, headed by Rupert Murdoch, is the number one holding of Farallon Capital Management, the second largest holding of Eton Park Capital Management and the fourth largest holding of Point State Capital.

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Israel Englander’s multi-strategy firm Millennium Management, reported a $32.6 billion U.S. equity portfolio, up from $22.7 billion the prior quarter, according to its most recent 13F. Leverage, of course, plays a big role at the firm, which managted a total of $18.5 billion at the end of July. It also filed its 13F on behalf of affiliates, Catapult Capital Management, Decade Capital Management and Green Arrow Capital Management.