Shaw 's D E Shaw reported ownership of 1.58 million shares as of the end of June, down by 7% on the quarter. Jim Simons ' Renaissance Technologies upped its position by over 650% on the quarter to 114,00 shares as of the end of June. Both Shaw and Simons commited small portions of their equity portfolios to purchasing shares of Agrium Inc. (USA) (NYSE:AGU). However, knowing that many passive investors prefer to get into a company after an activist investor stepped up, we might see an increase of hedge fund activity surrounding the stock. Regarding Allison Transmission Holdings Inc (NYSE:ALSN), ValueAct has been buying shares for several weeks now. Back at the beginning of October, the fund reported acquiring 550,000 shares of the company. A week later, the fund disclosed purchasing another 275,000 shares of Allison Transmission Holdings Inc (NYSE:ALSN).