BOSTON (Reuters) - Billionaire investor William Ackman's hedge fund sold a stake in Automatic Data Processing, the firm's biggest holding, as the value of the investment grew over the last months, a regulatory filing released on Tuesday shows.
Pershing Square (NYSE:SQ) Holdings now has a 7.2 percent economic stake in the human resources outsourcing company, down from 8.3 percent previously. The $8.5 billion hedge fund now owns 7.9 million shares of common stock and 23.9 million shares underlying listed and over-the-counter American-style call options, the filing shows.
Ackman made the move for "portfolio management purposes," the filing said. Pershing Square bought ADP shares for an average price of $105 in 2017. On Tuesday the shares closed trading at $117.39.
The widely followed activist investor last year lost a battle to win three ADP board seats when investors reelected company's entire board.