Hedge Funds

Hedge fund billionaire Cooperman makes big bet on media; adds AMC, Netflix

Key Points
  • The hedge fund added new stakes in shares of AMC Networks and Netflix in the first quarter, according to an SEC filing.
  • Omega also added a stake in Gigamon.
  • Omega's biggest holding is Google parent Alphabet.
Lee Cooperman
Katie Kramer | CNBC

Leon Cooperman's Omega Advisors bought two media stocks in the first quarter, according to a Monday filing with the U.S.

The hedge fund added new stakes in shares of Netflix and AMC Networks, buying 78,000 shares and 832,000 shares, respectively.

Omega increased its investment in Google parent Alphabet's Class A shares, the hedge fund's biggest holding, worth just over $152 million at Monday's prices.

The firm also added a new position in Gigamon, which makes software to manage traffic online. Last Monday, an SEC filing showed activist hedge fund Elliott Management purchased a 15.3 percent stake in the stock, noting that shares are "significantly undervalued."

The filing also showed that in the first quarter Omega exited stakes in financial brokerage ETrade, and energy companies Williams Cos and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. The hedge fund held less than 1 million shares each in the three closed positions.

Last September, the SEC accused Cooperman of insider trading. The billionaire hedge fund manager has maintained that the charges are "without merit."

Cooperman told CNBC in January that assets under management shrank by more than half to $3.4 billion.

—With reporting by Dawn Giel and Amanda Lasky