Hedge funds added Apple shares in second quarter, filings show

By Ross Kerber

BOSTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. hedge funds bought new shares of Apple Inc during the second quarter or added to their existing positions, ahead of a decline in the value of shares of the iPhone maker.

Filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released on Friday showed David Tepper's Appaloosa Management LP held 2.5 million shares of Apple as of June 30, a new position, and that Cliff Asness' AQR Capital Management added 718,283 shares in the quarter to bring its total holdings to 7.6 million.

Other so-called 13F filings showed Philippe Laffont's Coatue Management added 860,000 Apple shares during the three months ended June 30, giving it 8.5 million shares in all, and that London hedge fund manager Nevsky Capital LLP added 751,000 shares of Apple in the quarter, increasing its stake to 2.6 million shares.

Apple shares gained less than 1.0 percent during the second quarter to close at $125.43 on June 30. The stock is now about 8 percent lower, closing at $115.96 on Friday, after the company gave a weak fourth-quarter revenue forecast and missed some iPhone sales targets.

The decline could have exposed the second-quarter hedge fund buyers to losses, though some might have exited Apple before it fell from a high of $132.07 on July 20.

At the end of the first quarter Apple was one of the most popular stocks owned by hedge funds, according to Goldman Sachs research. Their analysis of 685 hedge funds with nearly $1 trillion in equity assets found 69 of the funds had Apple among their top 10 holdings.

Still, during the first quarter of this year a number of hedge funds cut their stakes in Apple as its shares rallied, previous filings showed.

Apple remains the most valuable U.S. company, with a market capitalization of $657 billion.

Among other hedge funds, filings showed Tiger Eye Capital LLC added 25,000 shares of Apple to bring its total stake to 356,502 shares, filings showed.

In addition a filing by Jana Partners LLC showed it held call options for Apple shares valued at $31.4 million, a new position as of June 30 and one that would increase in value if the shares rose.

Bridgewater Associates LP was a seller, however, cutting its Apple stake by 201,500 shares to 531,497 shares, filings showed.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Diane Craft)