Cohen’s Point72 Cut Sotheby’s Stake By Two Thirds

The latest 13F filing for Steven Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management shows that the hedge fund now only holds 1m shares of Sotheby’s (BID) stock. At the last filing, Cohen’s documents showed he owned 5.5% of the company’s stock, or more than 3m shares, having bought during the December and January price collapse.

One of the key questions around Taikang’s purchase of a 13.5% stake in Sotheby’s on the open market was how the life insurer was able to acquire so much of the stock without drastically moving the price. The logical place to look for a seller was Cohen’s Point72, an active trader of stocks that would have been keen to realize the nearly 50% rise in value over a six month span.

More intriguing than Cohen’s sales are the fact that Point72 retains 1m shares, a sign that Cohen believes the stock has more room to run either because of improvements in earnings or the potential for the company to be acquired by a strategic buyer like Taikang.