MGM Director Meister Slightly Trims Stake in Casino Stock
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) board of directors member and hedge fund manager Keith Meister slightly decreased his ownership holdings in the massive casino company.
Meister's Corvex Management sold 242,000 shares of MGM on Thursday, September 11th, for a weighted average price of $35.42, bringing in $8.57 million in total proceeds. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) report, transactions took place at prices between $35.54 and $35.61.
"After the sale, the filing shows beneficial ownership of 5,385,478 shares held indirectly for accounts of private investment funds advised by Corvex. The filing disclaims that the reporting person directly beneficially owns these shares except to the extent of his pecuniary interest, and offers to provide details on the number of shares sold at each price upon request,” according to a Stock Titan summary of the sale.
In January 2019, Corvex Management's founder and chief investment officer (CIO) became an independent director on MGM's board. Meister and his company did not publicly address the reason behind the reduction in their ownership of the Bellagio operator, and the SEC has not mandated that they do so.
One of the biggest MGM shareholders is still Corvex
Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IAC) owns over 22% of the casino shares, making it the largest MGM investor in terms of proportion.
IAC is not regarded as an institutional investor in spite of its significant shareholding. This category includes, among other professional market participants, pension plans, hedge funds such as Corvex, fund managers, and endowments.
With this week's share transaction, Meister's company now holds a little less shares in the gaming company than GoldenTree Asset Management, which was the ninth-largest institutional investor in MGM at the end of the second quarter. With Corvex falling to tenth place, that company is now the ninth-largest institutional stakeholder in MGM, assuming it hasn't reduced its stake in the company.
Over the past few years, Corvex's MGM holding has steadily decreased. The hedge fund held 20.93 million shares of the biggest operator on the Las Vegas Strip as of the end of 2019. At the end of the second quarter, MGM was one of the top five long positions held by the hedge fund, notwithstanding that decline.
Gaming Stocks Owned by Corvex
Beyond MGM, Meister has further industry exposure as a protégé of renowned gaming investor Carl Icahn. In 2023, Corvex invested in MGM's BetMGM joint venture partner, Entain (OTC: GMVHY). Earlier this year, that rank was raised to 5.3%.
In 2022, the hedge fund also acquired an interest in the Kindred Group, a major online gambling company in Sweden. This stake later increased to about 17%, and it benefited when the company was sold to French lottery monopoly Française des Jeux (FDJ) in 2024 for $2.7 billion.
