Big investors raise or cut their stakes in Valeant

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International

(VRX) is getting a mixed vote of confidence from its major investors, with some buying additional shares while others cutting their stakes amid the plunge of the embattled drugmaker's stock.

Hedge fund Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its Valeant investment by more than 2 million shares, to nearly 7.5 million, or nearly 2.2% of the drugmaker's outstanding shares, according to a quarterly disclosure filed Monday.

Similarly, Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo increased its stake by nearly 6.5 million shares, to 8.18 million, or 2.4% of the drugmaker's outstanding shares, according to a disclosure the privately-owned investment manager filed Friday.

Viking Global Investors LP, the Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund sponsor headed by Ole Andreas Halvorsen, bought an additional 376,615 Valeant shares, according to a Monday filing. The purchases raised Viking Global's stake to nearly 5 million shares.

Valeant's top shareholder, New York-based investment firm Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, bought just over 100,000 new shares, a Monday filing showed, raising its holdings to nearly 34 million shares or nearly 10% of the drugmaker's shares.

In contrast, financial services holding company T. Rowe Price Associates sold 417,721 Valeant shares, a shift that nonetheless left the company with more than 20 million shares, a Friday disclosure shows. Hedge fund manager John Paulson, sold 110,000 shares, paring his fund's Valeant stake to nearly 8.9 million shares.

Valeant shares plunge amid questions, investigation

A Monday disclosure showed that Omega Advisors, the New York-based hedge fund sponsor headed by Leon Cooperman, held nearly 485,000 Valeant shares during the last quarter. However, Steven Einhorn, Omega's vice chairman, on Monday told a Reuters Global Investment Outlook Summit in New York that company had sold the stock.

The transactions were reported after federal prosecutors subpoenaed the company for information about its drug pricing and distribution, issues also being examined by the Senate Special Committee on Aging. Separately, Valeant cut ties with a business partner as the nation's top pharmacy benefit providers ended all interaction with the specialty pharmacy, citing concerns about its business practices.

The investment changes came during a period  when Valeant stock has shed 73% of its value. The shares dropped from a $262.50 close on Aug. 5 to a $70.32 close on Tuesday, not long after a Morgan Stanley cut its Valeant target price from $200 to $98.