It's another hedge fund horror show as Valeant gets slaughtered

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(Reuters/Lucas Jackson)
Valeant Pharmaceuticals got hammered on Monday, and it's bad news for a bunch of hedge funds.

The embattled Canadian pharma company confirmed it's part in several ongoing investigations. They include ones by the US Attorney's Offices for Massachusetts and the Southern District of New York, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Congress.

The stock collapsed 18.44%, or $14.87, to close at $65.78 per share. The stock hit a 52-week low on Monday of $63.75.

The traumatic start to the week extends a tough run for Valeant, which has been sliding since late 2015 because of scrutiny in Washington, DC, over drug-price increases and accusations from a short seller.

The stock has been a hedge fund darling. According to Goldman Sachs' most recent Hedge Fund Trend Monitor, Valeant ranked No. 26 on its list of the stocks that "matter most" to funds. Valeant had fallen off Goldman's list amid the stock's sell-off in Q3, but it reentered the ranking in Q4.

Here's a quick rundown of the top-10 biggest hedge fund holders, according to regulatory filings compiled by Bloomberg. These are positions the they held for the fourth quarter ending December 31. These funds could have traded in or out of those positions since then:

1. Pershing Square (Bill Ackman): 21,591,122 shares, 6.33% (added 5 million shares on February 5)

2. ValueAct Holdings (Jeff Ubben): 14,994,261 shares, 4.39%

3. Paulson and Co. (John Paulson): 13,265,900 million shares, 3.89% (added 4.375 million shares in Q4)

4. Brahman Capital: 8,117,753, 2.38% (added 4.1 million shares in Q4)

5. Viking Global (Andreas Halvorsen): 7,793,397, 2.28% (added 2.8 million shares in Q4)

6. Lone Pine Capital (Steven Mandel): 5,829,079 shares, 1.71% (sold 1.63 million shares in Q4)

7. Hound Partners (Jonathan Auerbach): 4,881,835, 1.43% (added 983,187 in Q4)

8. Iridian Asset Management: 4,324,602, 1.27% (added 1.6 million shares in Q4)

9. Okumus Fund Management (Ahmet Okumus): 1,875,600, 0.55% (bought position in Q4)

10. Coatue Management (Philippe Laffont): 1,673,007, 0.49% (bought position in Q4)

If they haven't changed their positions, as a group, then they've seen more than $1.25 billion on paper wiped out since Friday's close.

Bill Ackman, founder of Pershing Square, has lost more than $321 million on his position since Friday's close. To date, he's suffered losses estimated at north of $2 billion on his Valeant investment. Others are likely feeling the pain, too.

Here's a six-month chart:

vrx

(Google Finance)

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