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Big Sears Shareholder Slashes Stake: (FAIRX)

FYI: Bruce Berkowitz, head of Fairholme Capital Management, has cut his personal exposure to Sears Holdings by selling a little more than half a million dollars in stock.

Berkowitz disclosed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that he sold 444,800 shares of the struggling department store between Aug. 21 and Aug. 27 for a total of $517,100, or an average of $1.16 each.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.barrons.com/articles/big-sears-shareholder-slashes-stake-1536147001?mod=hp_highlight_2

M* FAIRX Holdings:
http://portfolios.morningstar.com/fund/holdings?t=FAIRX&region=usa&culture=en-US

Comments

  • It only took him a decade to get there.
  • It sure would be interesting to know what price he paid for those 444,800 shares.
  • Yes, it would.
  • @MFO Members: Records indicate that Berkowitz first purchased Sears in 2005. How many shares, and the time frame I don't know, however ; the stock price for Sears ranged from $76 to $94 dollars in 2005.
    Regards,
    Ted
  • edited September 2018
    Hell, even I could have done that good. So far I've even done better with MJ. But then, it's only been a week on that one. If I make any money on the MJ it's full credit to Ted. :)
  • I've often wondered what caused FAIRX to falter. The performance since 2010 has just been horrendous.
  • Fairx was Stella fund 2000s...80s% of Mf can't outperformed indexes
  • It's certainly fun to pile on, but what exactly are people piling on to?
    Bruce Berkowitz, head of Fairholme Capital Management, has cut his personal exposure ...
    Get a grip. This is "just" a half million of his own shares shares, give or take. That's peanuts compared to what he dumped from the Fairholme Funds (FAIRX, FAAFX) combined - around three million shares.
    https://www.gurufocus.com/news/731092/berkowitz-sells-20-of-sears-near-historic-low-

    I doubt there's any way to find out how much Berkowitz paid for his personal shares.

    As to what Fairholme paid for its shares, you can get a pretty good sense by reading through the latest semiannual and annual statements.

    The annual shows that:
    FAAFX held 1,425,398 shares at a cost of $53,325,603 (acquired between 12/16/11 and 12/11/14[sic])
    FAIRX held 13,535,991 shares at a cost of $810,536,627 (between 11/26/07 and 12/11/15)

    [Shares purchased outside these periods had obviously already been disposed of prior to the end of the reporting period of the statement, 11/30/17.]

    The subsequent semiannual statement shows that FAIRX sold 4,397,400 shares at a loss of $318,744,149, sometime between 11/30/17 and 5/31/18, leaving FAIRX with 9,138,591 shares.

    It's easy to estimate the proceeds, since the price of SHLD ranged roughly between $2 and $4 over that period. Given the loss, you know roughly how much those shares cost. Subtract that from the total cost of the Fairhome shares in the annual report, and you'll have the cost of the pool of shares from which the latest 3M were sold.

    The fact that over four million shares were sold earlier this year (or late last year) shows that this recent sale of roughly 3M shares is neither the first nor the largest disposal of shares that the funds have made.

    Here are the two SEC latest 13G filings I could find showing Berkowitz and/or Fairholme changes in the number of shares owned:

    January 11, 2018
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1056831/000091957418000429/d7793325_13g-a.htm

    August 21, 2018
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1056831/000091957418005887/d8057736_13g-a.htm
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