Natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy (CHK-N) announced it will replace its chairman and founder Aubrey McClendon. Although he will remain CEO for now, McClendon’s departure from the board resulted from shareholder anger over his controversial program that grants him minority stakes in the company’s wells. Investors complained about his $1.1 billion worth of personal loans where he used the stakes as collateral.

Top shareholder Southeastern Asset Management was a key contributor to voicing concern over McClendon’s actions. The Value investor holds a 13% stake worth $1.6 billion as of Monday’s close, even after selling close to 700,000 shares at the end of 2011.

The next largest active institutional investor in CHK is Wellington, also a Value investor. It bought 7.7 million shares before the start of the year and now owns 50 million shares. It was the largest buyer of Chesapeake as of the latest filings at the end of Q4 2011.

Fidelity Management & Research, the largest seller, still holds 2.6% of the company after selling 5 million CHK shares.

With Southeastern and Wellington owning 21% of the shares outstanding, Value investors make up close to 40% of all shares held by institutional investors, and investors domiciled in the Americas own all but 8% of shares out.

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France and Spain held debt auctions this morning and sold their desired level of bonds, though at a higher cost than expected. With growing global concerns over the recent rise of yields, Spain sold more bonds at a greater expense while Moody’s announced it will likely place France’s Aaa credit rating on review this year. These events will have a great effect on outstanding French and Spanish sovereign debt currently held by investors.

Nine of the top ten institutional investors in French sovereign debt are domiciled in France. Together they hold more than $84 billion in this paper that could lose its top credit rating. AXA Investment Managers of Paris owns the most with a $24 billion stake. AEGON is the lone investor outside of France among the top ten holders.

Santander Asset Management is the largest of three top investors in Spanish sovereign debt which are all Spain-based institutions. It owns $7.3 billion while Invercaixa Gestion holds $7 billion of the government paper. The former invests more than $400 million in French sovereigns while the latter holds just $145 million worth.

Of all institutional investments in French and Spanish sovereign debt, the countries with the most total ownership belong to those countries whose debt is in focus. French investors own more than two thirds of all French sovereign debt held by institutions.

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After a much anticipated announcement, Google (GOOG-O) reported Q1 earnings of $10.08 per share. It had revenues of $8.1 billion, which is relatively in line with analysts’ expectations, and its EPS beat an average estimate of $9.65 per share. Google’s shares closed more than 2% higher before the announcement, and they currently trade slightly higher in the after hours market.

Fidelity Management & Research is the largest active Google shareholder by holding 7 million shares. In Q4 2011, it bought 735,000 shares, giving it a 7% stake in the company.

The next top active institutional owner is T. Rowe Price, another Growth at a Reasonable Price investor. However, it sold 404,000 shares at the end of last year. Capital World also sold some of its Google shares, but it dropped 670,000 of them.

At a stock price of $658, Google still gives investors a sense of room for growth, evidenced by the fact that more than half of the company’s institutional investors use either a GARP or Growth approach to equity investing. Passive index-tracking firms make up 21% of institutional holdings.

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Six years after acquiring a 93% stake, private equity firms Blackstone and Bain plan to take Michaels Stores public again. In October 2006, the two firms bought nearly all of the common shares, but value investor Highfields Capital continues to own 6.3% of the arts and crafts retailer. The PE stake was valued at more than $6 billion, and the IPO could be one of the largest retail sector IPO of 2012. In order to determine which investors may purchase the new shares, lead bookrunners JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs should identify current debt holders and shareholders in 2006 before the merger.

The Capital Group Companies are Michaels Stores’ largest public debt holders, owning $236 million worth of these bonds. The top ten institutional owners all domicile in the United States, and, due largely to the Cap Group’s holdings, West Coast US investors make up close to half of all debt owned by institutional holders.

The third quarter of 2006 was the last full quarter when Michaels Stores shares were publicly traded. At that time, Capital Research & Management was the next largest active shareholder after Highfields. As part of the Capital Group Companies, this Cap Re entity has since split into Capital Research Global and Capital World. Since its parent is a top debt holder, it could likely purchase shares once they trade again. Also, these two investment subsidiaries are two of the top three active holders of the Retail sector equity assets.

Michaels Stores belongs to the Retail sector within Consumer Discretionary. Fidelity is the largest active investor in this industry, owning $34 million in equity assets. It holds $60 million in Michaels Stores debt issues, making it one of the top holders in these securities. Though it was not among the ten largest active equity holders before the retailer was bought by the private equity firms, it may be a potential buyer now, given its investments in the industry.

Hedge fund Farallon Capital Management was the third largest active Michaels shareholder in 2006, owning a $217 million position. Today, the fund holds just over $100 million worth in retail stocks, so the company’s bookrunners will need to evaluate whether the fund is a good buyer by learning why its investments in the industry are currently so low.

This report identifies potential buy-side targets for this initial public offering. Investment managers will not have to publicly disclose their equity stake in Michaels Stores until 45 days after the close of the quarter in which it begins trading. Until that time, this report remains purely speculative, and the institutions mentioned above serve as strong candidates for Michaels Stores share ownership, given their holdings in similar debt and equity securities.

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After seven years as CEO, Jim Skinner announced he will retire from McDonald’s (MCD-N). Effective July 1st, the COO will replace Skinner, a move which analysts believe to be a smooth transition. Since he took over in November 2004, the fast food giant’s stock has more than tripled in value, recently reaching all time highs. This ownership report compares the shareholder base at the beginning and end of Skinner’s tenure.

Even though the institutional ownership by investment style remains relatively intact, the top ten active holders of MCD have changed significantly. With Skinner out, the investor composition may change once again.

Top investor Fidelity holds 2.5 million fewer shares than it did in 2004, but its current position makes up more than 5% of shares outstanding.

In 2004, Capital World and Cap Re Global filed together as one institution which held 15 million shares before Skinner became CEO. Since this appointment, Cap Re Global continues to hold 15 million shares while Capital World owns an additional 29 million shares. Together these members of the Capital Group Companies hold 4.4% of shares outstanding while the former entity had just over 1% of shares.

Marsico, which had been lowering its MCD position, completely sold out when Skinner took the reins. It bought 52 million shares, though, at the same time the Gates Foundation entered into its position. Marsico held 73 million shares at the beginning of 2008, but it has steadily sold off shares to where it now owns just 7 million shares.

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Tech giant Apple Inc (AAPL-O) announced today that it will initiate a quarterly dividend and share buyback plan. Over the next three years, the company will pay out $45 billion, of which $10 billion is dedicated to its annual dividend program. Though its 1.8 yield lags the S&P500 average dividend yield, the market reacted positively as AAPL closed above $600, up more than 2.6%.

Even after selling 2.24 million shares at the end of 2011, Fidelity Management & Research is the largest shareholder, owning more than 5.3% of Apple shares outstanding. This sale was the largest by any active institutional holder last quarter.

Of all Apple institutional shareholders, only 2% are investors with an investment style focused on income paying stocks. BNY Mellon is the top yield investor by owning $2.8 billion worth of Apple shares.

Having not paid a dividend since 1995, Apple will likely draw interest by more of these Income style investors. Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss currently does not own a stake in Apple, but it does dedicate more than 8% of its equity portfolio to the Technology industry.

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At 12:15 eastern time today, the madness begins with the 64 team bracket. People have filled out brackets with friends and coworkers, making picks based on personal insight, expert advise, team colors, mascots, you name it, but why not use investments to do so? The opening game today is between Colorado State and Murray State, so what if investors in related securities use their portfolios to help choose?

Located in Kentucky, Murray State could get the nod from the Lexington-based investor Dupree & Co. because it owns $937 million of Kentucky municipal bonds. This position makes up 80% of the broker’s portfolio of publicly disclosed fixed income positions. The next largest investor domiciled in Kentucky is the Kentucky Farm Bureau which owns $184 million of Kentucky munis.

Nuveen Asset Management holds just over half a billion dollars worth of the Racers’ home state bonds. This Chicago-based mutual fund may not necessarily have Murray State advancing, despite their higher seed. Nuveen may cheer for the Rams as it owns $1.9 billion in Colorado municipal bonds.

Franklin and Vanguard are both top investors in each state’s municipal issues, though their Colorado investments are higher. The larger muni investment could result from the fact that Colorado has close to twice the number of outstanding bonds for which investors have filed ownership. Colorado State may be the underdog in today’s game, but it has more municipal debt for investors to own.

As you make your last minute selections, consider the college’s debt securities rather than relying on throwing darts at a board.

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American International Group (AIG-N) announced it will sell about 1.7 billion of its 4 billion AIA Group (1299-HK) shares. This move will help the US insurance company raise $6 billion to help repay part of its US government bailout. AIG will sell one third of its AIA shares to institutional investors, so the active AIA owners in the below report will be potential buyers.

Miami-based Fairholme Capital Management owns 300 million AIA Group shares which were worth $1.14 billion before trading began today. The stock closed slightly lower today. Fairholme also owns a significant stake in AIG, holding 92 million shares, or just under 5% of the company. It ended the day 2% higher. During Q4 2011, though, it sold almost 10 million shares in the insurer.

Of all institutional investors holding AIA Group, more than two-thirds of them have either a Growth or GARP investment style. 14% of the owners are passive firms that replicate their equity portfolios based on stock indices.

61% of all institutional owners domicile in the Americas. 19% of these investors that have publicly disclosed their AIA Group holdings are Asian.

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While European countries auctioned off debt at new highs, US government bonds remained low. Corporate notes offered little premium to these notes. Investors still bought about $86 billion more of high grade corporate paper in Q4 2011, though, but these institutions sold more investment grade paper than they bought.

These reports analyze institutional movements in the high grade and junk corporate bond sector, as defined by S&P. In addition to identifying the top holders, buyers, and sellers, the rotation analyses break down institutional ownership by investors’ regions and types.

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Investment Grade Holders, Buyers, and Sellers

High Yield Holders, Buyers, and Sellers

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Beginning in October 2011, the equity markets, specifically those in the United States, began to rally. During the fourth quarter, total global equity ownership increased by 4.5%. This total includes all institutional investors that publicly disclose their global equity holdings.

These three reports analyze institutional movements in the eleven Thomson Reuters-defined macro industries. In addition to identifying the top holders, buyers, and sellers in each industry, the rotation analyses break down institutional ownership by investors’ regions and investment styles.

 

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Top holders, buyers, and sellers by sector

Sector investments by investor region

Sector investments by investment style

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