Will Zynga’s Facelift Appeal to These Top Institutional Shareholders?

On Thursday, Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA) relaunched its website, which allows users to play its games without signing in via Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), which is a significant step toward establishing its independence. The relaunch of Zynga.com is the most recent move concerning the slow dissolution of a special partnership that once bound two of the most influential players in the social Internet industry. Tim Catlin, general manager of Zynga.com, stated to Reuters that he believed Zynga’s players wanted to create unique player names not tied to their Facebook accounts, which forces them to display real names. “You had to use your Facebook account to play previously, but this is going to change going forward,” Catlin informed Reuters, and existing players will still have the ability to log in with their Facebook accounts.

These institutional firms indicated owning shares of Zynga in Q4 2012. They reported owning a total of 260.835 million shares on 12/31/2012. The shares closed at $2.36 on 12/31/2012.

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

Morgan Stanley held 33,463,371 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $78,973,552. This brought the portfolio total to 0.05 percent.

Vanguard Group Inc held 23,287,985 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $54,959,642. This brought the portfolio total to 0.01 percent.

SRS Investment Management LLC held 23,000,000 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $54,279,998. This brought the portfolio total to 5.3 percent.

DST Investments 5 Ltd held 18,713,799 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $44,164,564. This brought the portfolio total to 78.85 percent.

Silver Lake Group LLC held 17,129,774 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $40,426,265. This brought the portfolio total to 5.4 percent.

Franklin Resources Inc held 12,739,811 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $30,065,953. This brought the portfolio total to 0.02 percent.

Blackrock Institutional Trust Company N.A. held 10,561,380 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $24,924,856. This brought the portfolio total to 0.01 percent.

Lonestar Capital Management LLC held 6,800,000 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $16,047,999. This brought the portfolio total to 2.21 percent.

Susquehanna International Group LLP held 4,763,828 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $11,242,634. This brought the portfolio total to 0.0 percent.

Susquehanna International Group LLP held 4,529,100 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $10,734,000. This brought the portfolio total to 0.0 percent.

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