Shares of Agilent Technologies gained more than 3% in after-hours trading on Monday after hedge fund investor Bill Ackman revealed he has taken a stake in the lab testing equipment maker.
A regulatory filing showed Ackman’s hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital, owns more than 2.9 million Agilent shares, bringing his stake to around $246 million.
Some investors had speculated that Ackman’s next big tech buy would be Netflix. Don Bilson, head of event-driven research at Gordon Haskett, was among the analysts thinking the well-known hedge fund investor and activist may be snapping up a stake in the video streamer. Bilson specifically cited a large mysterious options trade for an unknown buyer through an investment bank.
Shares of Netflix fell slightly in after hours trading when the Agilent stake was revealed. When asked about the speculation last month, a Pershing spokesperson declined to comment. This stake doesn’t totally rule out that Ackman would be buying some Netflix but it made it less likely in some investors eyes.
Ackman’s hedge fund has been on fire this year after a three-year drought. In the first half of the year alone, Pershing Square boasted a return of 45%.
Recently, Ackman raised his stake in real estate company Howard Hughes to 14.8% from 12.6%.