Prominent fund guru ups stake in Sarasota firm

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Outspoken national hedge fund manager Dan Loeb, fresh of his public criticism of Warren Buffett, has increased his stake in a Sarasota business and technology conglomerate.

Loeb, according to a report on Seeking Alpha, increased his stake in Roper Technologies by 23% in the first quarter, from 1.3 million shares to 1.6 million shares. He bought shares of Roper through his hedge fund, Third Point LLC, at prices between $146 and $174 a share. The stock, under the symbol ROP, closed yesterday at $175.71 a share. Roper, based in a Lakewood Ranch corporate park, now makes up 2.54% of the total Third Point LLC portfolio, which is worth around $10.82 billion through the first quarter, Seeking Alpha reports.

While Loeb boosted his shares in one Gulf Coast firm, he fled from another: He disposed off all his shares in Hertz. The hedge fund's holdings in the car rental firm, which moved its headquarters to Southwest Florida from New Jersey in 2013, totaled less than 1%, according to Seeking Alpha. Loeb also bought and sold Hertz in 2014.

Loeb is known for his harsh letters to corporate executives when he has a stake in company he believes is underperforming. He also criticized Buffett at an industry conference in Las Vegas in May, when he said the famed investor doesn't always do what he says others should so in finance. Financial media outlets nationwide reported on the comments.

Loeb, so far, won't need to take an activist approach with Roper. The firm's earnings increased 6% in the first quarter, to $1.55 a share, and revenues were up 4%, to $865.3 million. Both metrics exceeded analysts' expectations.