By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON, (Reuters) – Investment firms Sachem Head Capital Management (NASDAQ:) and Soros Fund Management resigned their positions from Peloton, (NASDAQ:), during the first quarter, as shares tumbled. Under pressure from activist investors, the company fired its CEO.

Peloton makes treadmills and exercise bikes. It was a popular brand that became a big hit during the pandemic. However, the company suffered heavy sales during the first quarter. The pandemic ended and the market returned to the gyms.

Stock prices have fallen by 55% in January to $15.87 Friday closing trading.

The filing late Friday night showed that Sachem Head has sold 1.65 millions shares in the first quarter. Peloton was being downgraded by the firm that sometimes encourages companies to improve their performance. The company first invested in Peloton in 2021. Soros Fund Management sold 335 557 shares and exited the position.

Blackwells Capital an activist investor firm, owning approximately 5%, started pushing for reforms in January. In a matter of weeks, the company announced that Barry McCarthy was hired by Nextflix (NYSE:) to take over from John Foley, co-founder. Blackwells had forced Peloton’s sale. However, the company said that it was still dissatisfied with its management.

Late Friday, Soros and Sachem Head released their 13F filings. These documents show how much money the managers had at the end the quarter. Although the files are not forward-looking they can be closely viewed for clues on possible trends or insight into specific stocks that managers like or dislike.

Sachem Head reported on new roles in Zendesk’s customer service platform (NYSE:), as well as Momentive Global. Momentive Global was the parent company of SurveyMonkey which Zendesk planned to purchase. The deal was rejected by investors. Jana Partners, an activist investment firm, nominated four Zendesk directors in February. They are pushing Zendesk to examine strategic options and sell itself.

Sachem Head held 1.8 Million shares of Zendesk stock and 5.7 M shares in Momentive.