As New York activist hedge fund firm Trian Fund Management gears up for its proxy fight with DuPont, Deutsche Bank Wednesday cut its price target on the chemical and seed giant by $5 to $83. The move came after the stock dropped 3 percent Tuesday following the release of the company’s quarterly results, which slightly beat consensus forecasts. However, the company also provided 2015 guidance that was at the lower end of its previous range, mostly related to foreign exchange issues, according to a note published by the German bank. The focus now shifts to the annual meeting May 13, the bank told clients. The stock rebounded by about 1 percent on Wednesday.
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In other activist news, Bank of New York Mellon, also under assault by Trian as well as San Francisco-based Marcato Capital Management, said first-quarter earnings grew by 16 percent, easily beating consensus forecasts. The stock advanced 3.39 percent on Wednesday.
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Kenneth Griffin’s Citadel disclosed it owned nearly 4.9 million shares of Swift Transportation, or 5.4 percent of the total shares outstanding, as of April 13. This is roughly quadruple its stake in the shipping company at year-end.
The Chicago hedge fund firm also disclosed it owned more than 4.9 million shares of Amicus Therapeutics as of April 14, or 5.1 percent of its total shares outstanding. This is more than double its stake in the biopharmaceutical company at the end of last year.
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A monthly indicator shows that 3.36 percent of hedge fund investors submitted redemption notifications in April, down from 3.91 percent the previous month. SS&C GlobeOp’s data on the GlobeOp platform represents about 10 percent of the hedge fund industry, according to the firm.
