Icahn makes new bet on Allergan, cuts Hertz in Q2

[BOSTON] Carl Icahn, the octogenarian investor whose stock investments still create a buzz on Wall Street nearly 50 years after he first got into the business, made a new bet on Allergan and slashed his holding in Hertz Global Holdings, a new filing shows.

Mr Icahn who invests his personal fortune estimated by Forbes to be roughly US$17 billion largely kept his portfolio unchanged, reporting no change on his investments in Cheniere Energy , Freeport-McMoRan and Herbalife during the second quarter.

But he did make one significant addition when he bought 3.4 million shares of drugmaker Allergan, valued at US$785.7 million, and one key subtraction when he sold 16.9 million shares in Hertz Global Holdings to own 4.3 million shares at the end of the quarter.

Icahn like other investors on Monday filed a so-called 13-F filing that shows what US stocks he owned at the end of the second quarter.

He made smaller adjustments to his biggest holdings including a 2 per cent hike in AIG, bringing his ownership to 45.6 million shares. PayPal Holdings, was cut by 10 per cent to 33.9 million shares, the filing shows.

Mr Icahn like some other billionaire investors has made big bets on energy companies, betting on a recovery that has been spotty so far.

Allergan's stock price dropped 14 per cent during the second quarter after Pfizer walked away from a planned merger, but some investors expect that Allergan will tie up with another company, suggesting that the stock price will rebound.

REUTERS