Hedge fund Elliott Management told investors that it added to its stake in Juniper Networks last quarter and sees opportunities in real estate securities in Europe, but it said little about two positions making headlines -- Argentina and EMC Corp. During the first half of 2014, the Elliott Associates portfolio gained 4.6 percent while the Elliott International Limited fund rose 4.1 percent, the $25 billion firm, which is run by investor Paul Singer, wrote in a letter dated July 28, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.Writing about Juniper Networks, the firm said: "We added to our position during the quarter, as we continue to believe that Juniper has numerous pathways for value maximization." He did not say how large the stake is.In the letter, the firm said it sees opportunities in non-performing loans, especially in Italy, in part because the "Bank of Italy has been requiring banks to improve their NPL provisioning levels." Elliott also cited opportunities in European real estate markets, particularly in the UK and Germany, even as more competitors are piling in and making the broader market more competitive.Elliott, which has been pursuing activist strategies at some companies, confirmed in the letter that it owns a stake in storage systems company EMC, which is the majority owner of VMware Inc. Earlier this month speculation mounted about EMC's future and that Elliott, which people close to the firm said had taken a $1 billion stake, might push for a breakup. The firm did not say how large its stake is.
Juniper Networks, Inc. (Juniper Networks) designs, develops, and sells products and services that together provide its customers with network infrastructure. Shares of JNPR traded higher by 0.42% or $0.1/share to $23.82. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $18.36 and as high as $28.75. On average, 6701410 shares of JNPR exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2516554.
VMware, Inc., is the provider of virtualization infrastructure solutions utilized by organizations to help transform the way they build, deliver and consume information technology (IT) resources. Shares of VMW traded higher by 0.49% or $0.48/share to $97.98. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $76.51 and as high as $112.89. On average, 1370060 shares of VMW exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 544932.
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