David Tepper’s hedge fund had an active quarter. He exited positions at several large companies and doubled down on some tech names. Tuesday’s securities filings showed that Appaloosa Management, Tepper’s hedge fund manager, was mostly a seller during the first quarter. There were two exceptions to this rule. The hedge fund manager added to his Microsoft and Amazon holdings during the quarter. Uber is a notable purchase that was not included in the above list. Appaloosa purchased nearly 1.8million shares of the transport company in its first quarter. This brings the total to over 2 million. This stake was estimated to be worth $72million at March’s end. The fund also made notable retail moves. Appaloosa closed smaller positions at Foot Locker, Gap and Kohl’s while trimming bigger positions at Macy’s or Kohl’s. Tepper also closed positions at D.R. Homes. Horton, PulteGroup, General Motors, and T-Mobile were all closed by Tepper. T-Mobile’s and General Motors had totals of more than $100 millions at December’s end. Reversals in purchases from the previous quarter are evident in the moves in GM as well as in retail stocks. Appaloosa opened two smaller casino positions at Wynn Las Vegas Sands and Wynn. There was also some buying. Hedge funds file quarterly securities filings that show stock ownership and options, but no short positions. CNBC’s Jim Cramer reported last week that Tepper had claimed that he had hedged his position against the Nasdaq. It is not clear if Tepper executed these trades earlier than necessary to prevent a significant drawdown.
