Bill Ackman Raises Stakes In Fortune, J.C. Penney (JCP, FO)

Legendary value investor Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital has raised his stake

in two companies he's gone activist against, Fortune Brands (NYSE:

) and J.C. Penney (NYSE:

). Ackman raised his stake in Fortune, which is in the process of spinning off its home and security unit to shareholders, and either sell or spin off its golf business. His stake in the fourth quarter of 2010 went from 7.465 million shares to 16.668 million shares, a jump of 123%. He also added to his J.C. Penney stake, in the form of call options, as well as additional common stock. He had a total of 34 million shares of the company by the end of 2010. Ackman is currently a member of the

at J.C. Penney, as he has said in the past he sees tremendous value in the retailer's operations, and

Ackman recently appeared at the

in which he talked about J.C. Penney. He said that Penney's had the most potential of any company in his portfolio. Ackman has teamed up with Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:

) co-own more than a quarter of the company's outstanding stock. He also disclosed a new position in General Motors (NYSE:

), as well as his stake in Howard Hughes Co. (NYSE:

), which he received from General Growth Properties (NYSE:

), when the real estate investment trust emerged from bankruptcy. Ackman is the chairman of Howard Hughes Co. He substantially cut his stakes in ADP (NYSE:

), Target (NYSE:

), Kraft (NYSE:

), and sold out of his stake in Landry's Restaurants (NYSE:

).