By Emily Chasan
NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc gained a big following among hedge fund managers at the end of last year as well-known investors such as Appaloosa Management's David Tepper and Eton Park's Eric Mindich piled into the stock.
Tepper, who made billions over the past year betting that the U.S. government would make good on its promises to support major financial institutions, more than doubled his stake in Citigroup, according to the fund's fourth-quarter filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
The Short Hills, New Jersey-based fund manager raised his stake by 129 percent to about 117.5 million shares according to the filings. His stake in Citigroup is worth more than half a billion dollars.
Mindich, who runs the $12 billion hedge fund Eton Park Capital Management, also raised his stake in Citigroup to 80.5 million shares from 60.5 million at the end of the third quarter, according to the filings.
Several managers also took new positions in the stock, according to the filings.
Philippe Laffont, who got his start investing at Julian Robertson's Tiger Management, also disclosed a big stake in the bank. Laffont's Coatue Management bought more than 20 million shares in Citigroup, according to his filing.
Other financial stocks also got some additional attention from the fund managers. Mindich raised his holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co to 8.4 million shares from 7.4 million, while Tepper slightly raised his bet on Bank of America Corp .
The Citigroup bet appears to be paying off already for many of the fund managers.
The U.S. Treasury pumped a total of $45 billion into Citigroup under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) over 2008 and 2009, but Citigroup has spent the past year recovering from the massive losses it ran up during the financial crisis.
Citigroup shares are up about 46 percent from a year ago, and have made sharp gains since November.
Chief Executive Vikram Pandit pledged in early 2009 to take a $1 salary until his bank recovered from the financial crisis to sustained profitability.
Last month, Citigroup's board said he had achieved that goal and gave him a $1,749,999 raise for 2011.
The hedge fund positions were disclosed in quarterly 13F filings in which large investors are required to report their holdings of U.S.-listed securities at the end of each quarter. Their holdings may have changed since the end of last year.
Citigroup shares closed at $4.91, on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, up 0.6 percent.
(Reporting by Emily Chasan, additional reporting by Aaron Pressman in Boston; Editing by Ted Kerr) Keywords: hold HEDGEFUNDS/CITI (emily.chasan@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6114; Reuters Messaging: emily.chasan.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc gained a big following among hedge fund managers at the end of last year as well-known investors such as Appaloosa Management's David Tepper and Eton Park's Eric Mindich piled into the stock.
Tepper, who made billions over the past year betting that the U.S. government would make good on its promises to support major financial institutions, more than doubled his stake in Citigroup, according to the fund's fourth-quarter filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
The Short Hills, New Jersey-based fund manager raised his stake by 129 percent to about 117.5 million shares according to the filings. His stake in Citigroup is worth more than half a billion dollars.
Mindich, who runs the $12 billion hedge fund Eton Park Capital Management, also raised his stake in Citigroup to 80.5 million shares from 60.5 million at the end of the third quarter, according to the filings.
Several managers also took new positions in the stock, according to the filings.
Philippe Laffont, who got his start investing at Julian Robertson's Tiger Management, also disclosed a big stake in the bank. Laffont's Coatue Management bought more than 20 million shares in Citigroup, according to his filing.
Other financial stocks also got some additional attention from the fund managers. Mindich raised his holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co to 8.4 million shares from 7.4 million, while Tepper slightly raised his bet on Bank of America Corp .
The Citigroup bet appears to be paying off already for many of the fund managers.
The U.S. Treasury pumped a total of $45 billion into Citigroup under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) over 2008 and 2009, but Citigroup has spent the past year recovering from the massive losses it ran up during the financial crisis.
Citigroup shares are up about 46 percent from a year ago, and have made sharp gains since November.
Chief Executive Vikram Pandit pledged in early 2009 to take a $1 salary until his bank recovered from the financial crisis to sustained profitability.
Last month, Citigroup's board said he had achieved that goal and gave him a $1,749,999 raise for 2011.
The hedge fund positions were disclosed in quarterly 13F filings in which large investors are required to report their holdings of U.S.-listed securities at the end of each quarter. Their holdings may have changed since the end of last year.
Citigroup shares closed at $4.91, on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, up 0.6 percent.
(Reporting by Emily Chasan, additional reporting by Aaron Pressman in Boston; Editing by Ted Kerr) Keywords: hold HEDGEFUNDS/CITI (emily.chasan@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6114; Reuters Messaging: emily.chasan.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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