The Facts: Activist investor Carl Icahn added significantly to his stake in Motorola over the past few months, filing documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week stating that he and his affiliated entities control about 5% of Motorola stock, or about 114.3 million shares. Icahn had owned about 3%, or 75.6 million shares, of Motorola stock as of Sept. 30.
The Filing: According to the filing, Icahn and related entities started bulking up on Motorola stock in early January, buying a total of 38.7 million shares for about $430 million between Jan. 7 and Jan. 28.
The Reason? Icahn said that the entities bought the stock in the belief that the shares are undervalued. But the increased stake could only help the investor in his most recent scuffle with Motorola and its management. Earlier this month, Icahn made moves to appoint a slate of four new directors to its board.
