Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Reports Stake in Agilent Technologies

(Bloomberg) -- Pershing Square Capital Management, the activist fund run by billionaire Bill Ackman, announced a stake in life sciences equipment maker Agilent Technologies Inc., according to a regulatory filing Monday.

The New York-based hedge fund owned a 2.9 million shares in Agilent as of Sept. 30 worth about $223 million, according to the filing. Pershing Square didn’t disclose what it intended to do with the investment.

Ackman said last month that the previously undisclosed position amounted to about 8% to 9.5% of his firm’s portfolio. At the top end of that range, the investment would have been worth about $665 million as of Oct. 31, when Pershing Square reported assets under management of about $7 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Pershing Square applied for special treatment that would have allowed it to increase its stake in Agilent since last month.

Agilent’s shares fell less than 1% to $81.62 in New York trading Monday, giving the company a market value of about $25.2 billion. The stock, which gained as 5% in after hours trading, has risen about 16% in the past year.

Pershing Square’s investments have rallied this year thanks in part to the performance of some of its biggest holdings, including Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., Starbucks Corp. and Burger King owner Restaurant Brands International Inc.

Pershing Square’s investments have returned 51.3% this year through Nov. 30, according to its website.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Deveau in New York at sdeveau2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Liana Baker at lbaker75@bloomberg.net, Matthew Monks, Michael Hytha

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