Will Viacom’s Court Date Scare Away These Top Institutional Shareholders?

Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVS) and Viacom (NYSE:VIA) are involved in an anti-trust lawsuit that was filed on February 26 concerning their long-term agreement that was signed during December whereby Cablevision will carry Viacom networks. Cablevision argued that Viacom imposed a penalty totaling almost $1 billion if it refused to pay for a few channels with low ratings that it did not want, but the company still wanted access to popular channels like Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon. According to Cablevision, Viacom bundled the 14 lesser channels for compulsory distribution with the more popular channels, forcing it into a “coercive” long-term agreement.

These institutional firms indicated owning shares of Viacom in Q4 2012. They reported owning a total of 9.715 million shares on 12/31/2012. The shares closed at $54.27 on 12/31/2012.

Here are the ten largest positions in Viacom at the end of December 31st, 2012.

Gamco Investors Inc. et al held 3,369,637 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $182,870,202. This brought the portfolio total to 1.34%.

Gabelli Funds LLC held 1,920,000 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $104,198,401. This brought the portfolio total to 0.7%.

Neuberger Berman Group LLC held 1,164,889 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $63,218,527. This brought the portfolio total to 0.09%.

Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC held 1,010,000 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $54,812,700. This brought the portfolio total to 1.0%.

Amp Capital Investors Ltd held 670,265 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $36,375,282. This brought the portfolio total to 0.31%.

Sg Americas Securities LLC held 390,000 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $45,000. This brought the portfolio total to 0.0%.

James Investment Research Inc held 189,505 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $10,284,436. This brought the portfolio total to 0.44%.

Invesco Ltd. held 114,709 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $6,225,257. This brought the portfolio total to 0.0%.

CQS Cayman LP held 107,330 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $5,824,799. This brought the portfolio total to 0.68%.

Sac Capital Advisors LP held 98,650 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $5,353,736. This brought the portfolio total to 0.03%.

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