market folly

Mick McGuire's hedge fund firm Marcato Capital Management has filed a 13D with the SEC on Life Time Fitness (LTM).  This is a brand new position for the hedge fund and they now own 7.2% of the company with over 2.9 million shares.

The filing was made due to activity on May 12th.  The activist investor included the typical boilerplate in the 13D and didn't outline any specific plans at this time.

Marcato's position is comprised of various stock options as they have calls referencing an aggregate of over 1.7 million shares with an exercise price of $30 and expire in July 2014.  They also sold put options for the same underlying amount of shares with the same strike and expiration date.  They've also entered into swaps.

Their trading activity log shows they were buying stock at the end of March around $47.80, the end of April around $47.74 and in the middle of may around $48.45.

Per Google Finance, Life Time Fitness is "operates multi-use sports and athletic, professional fitness, family recreation and spa centers in a resort-like environment."

For more on this hedge fund, check out Marcato's presentation on Sotheby's & Dillards.