- Bill Ackman sold his stake in Domino's Pizza less than 18 months after establishing it.
- Ackman's Pershing Square owned $800 million of the pizza chain's stock as recently as June 30.
- The investor's fund has bought and sold stakes in Berkshire Hathaway and Netflix in recent years.
Bill Ackman has sold his entire stake in Domino's Pizza after establishing it only last year, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing confirmed this week.
The billionaire investor's Pershing Square fund bought about 2 million Domino's shares in March 2021, securing a roughly 5% stake in the fast-food chain. It held roughly the same number of shares at the end of June this year, but it has fully exited the $800 million position since then.
Ackman and his team, longtime admirers of Domino's, pounced on the stock when it tumbled as low as $330 last year. It surged to north of $560 by the end of 2021, but has dropped by about 27% this year to trade around $400 today.
The Pershing Square boss explained the sale in his fund's recent interim report.
"In light of the company's relatively high valuation in the context of a volatile market environment, we decided to exit our investment to raise cash for alternative investment opportunities," he wrote.
Pershing Square has made several major changes to its stock portfolio in recent years. For example, it invested in Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in 2019, only to sell the entire position in May 2020.
Moreover, it cashed out a nearly 1% stake in Starbucks to finance its bet on Domino's last spring. It also amassed then dumped a roughly $1 billion position in Netflix within three months this year.
The hedge fund commanded a $7.5 billion stock portfolio at the end of June. Along with Domino's, it held billion-dollar stakes in Lowe's, Chipotle, Hilton Worldwide, and Burger King-owner Restaurant Brands, as well as smaller positions in Howard Hughes and Canadian Pacific Railway.
Pershing Square has trailed the wider market this year. It returned -10.8% in the year to August 16, exceeding the S&P 500's 8.8% decline over the same period.
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