Pershing Square unveils new stake in Alphabet

(Reuters) -Billionaire investor William Ackman has built in the first quarter a new stake in Alphabet worth $1.1 billion, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

According to the filing, Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management owned 8.1 million class C shares and 2.2 million shares class A of Alphabet at the end of the first quarter.

Alphabet's shares were little changed on the news.

Ackman's Pershing Square Holdings portfolio has gained 3.6% this year through May 9, and Ackman had hinted that the previously unnamed new position had a positive impact on performance.

Class A shares in Alphabet are up roughly 32% this year.

This marks the first prominent new investment Ackman has made since making a bet on streaming service Netflix Inc that he announced in January 2022 and exited a few months later.

Ackman, who built his reputation as a vocal corporate agitator, told investors in March 2022 that he was quitting public battles for a quieter, behind the scenes approach to investing.

His firm oversees $15.5 billion. He ended 2022 with a decline of 8.8% following three years of double-digit gains. In 2021, Pershing Square Holdings returned 26.9% after a 70.2% gain in 2020 and a 58.1% increase in 2019.

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bangalore and Carolina Mandl in Sao Paulo, writing by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Chris Reese and Stephen Coates)