Billionaire investor Carl Icahn reduced his stakes in leading liquefied natural gas (LNG) provider Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) and equipment rental company Herc Holdings (NYSE:HRI) in the fourth quarter of 2022, as per his latest 13-F SEC filing.
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Icahn marginally increased his holdings in beverage can maker Crown Holdings (NYSE:CCK), while keeping most of his positions essentially unchanged in Q4 2022. Icahn started a new position with the purchase of 1.04 million Crown shares in Q3 2022. He purchased just 100 additional shares in Q4 2022.
Furthermore, Icahn held 16,414,532 Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) warrants as of Q4 2022 end, up from 16,116,069 warrants as of Q3-end.
Overall, the value of Icahn’s portfolio increased to $21.76 billion as of the end of Q4 2022, up from $21.23 billion as of Q3 2022-end.
Note that Icahn’s Q3 portfolio included over 12.5 million shares of Twitter. As per the Wall Street Journal, Icahn’s firm Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP) made a profit of more than $250 million on the Twitter stake. The social media platform was acquired by Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk after a prolonged drama.
Let’s have a look at the two stocks in which Icahn reduced his holdings in Q4 2022.
Is LNG a Good Stock to Buy?
Icahn held 1 million shares of Cheniere Energy as of Q4-end compared to 2.1 million as of Q3-end, marking a 52.6% reduction.
Activist investor Icahn initially invested in Cheniere in 2015. In June 2022, Cheniere entered into an agreement to repurchase about $350 million worth of common shares owned by Icahn and Icahn Enterprises. Andrew Teno, a Cheniere board member appointed by Icahn Enterprises, resigned from the board following this agreement.
In reaction to the agreement, Icahn said, “Our investment in Cheniere is a shining example of IEP’s activism efforts. We were instrumental in hiring CEO Jack Fusco, who has assembled a great team and unlocked the value of a fantastic asset.” He added that his investments in Cheniere fetched over $1.3 billion in realized and unrealized gains.
Wall Street is highly bullish about Cheniere Energy and has a Strong Buy consensus rating backed by ten unanimous Buys. The average LNG stock price target of $196.10 suggests nearly 32% upside potential.
Herc Holdings (NYSE:HRI)
Icahn cut his stake in Herc Holdings by 8.1% to nearly 3.7 million shares in Q4 2022.
Wall Street is cautiously optimistic about Herc Holdings, with a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on two Buys and one Hold. The average HRI stock price target of $170 suggests 19.4% upside potential.
Conclusion
Carl Icahn’s Q4 13-F SEC filing did not reveal any significant changes except for the reduction in holdings of Cheniere Energy and Herc Holdings.
Icahn is widely known for making aggressive purchases in companies and then pursuing board or management changes, or sale of non-core assets to drive higher shareholder value.
