George Soros’ hedge fund made a major bet in Citigroup (NYSE: C), buying up 94.7 million shares that were worth $313.4 million at the end of 2009. The company’s stock price is up 24% since the end of 2009, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the hedge fund has made money on its investment, according to a blog post on WSJ.
Throughout the fourth quarter, Citigroup shares hit a high of $4.90 per share on October 14th, which then declined to a low of $3.13 on December 13th. The shares had an average price of $4.10 during the quarter, so depending on when Soros’ fund purchased the shares they could have lost money or won big.
WSJ believes that Soros’ likely got in at a lower price, stating “given Soros’ track record as a savvy investor we tend to think he probably got in at the lower end of the fourth-quarter’s trading range, as Citi prepared an equity offering to raise funds in order to repay TARP.”
With the issuance of 5 billion new Citigroup shares, volume rose dramatically in the company as its share price fell. When the company hit their December 17th low, trading exploded to 3.77 billion per day. The stock remained the most active traded stock on almost a daily basis since then.
WSJ said that the December 17th mark may have been about the spot for Soros to pick up 95 million shares for his fund.
