A filing by the U.S.-based Oppenheimer family of investment funds submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reveals the group has increased its stake in Russian tech corporation Yandex, Interfax reports.
The company that identifies itself as one of the world’s most reputable investment firms reportedly boosted its stake from 1.8 percent to 6.41 percent, which represents about 18.365 million shares, as of December 31, 2018.
Yandex closed trading in the U.S. at $29.55 per share on Monday so the entire OppenheimerFunds stake in the Russian company is currently worth $542.7 million.
In 2015, the New York-based investment company entirely eliminated its stake in Yandex. Prior to that OppenheimerFunds had been the largest portfolio investors in the Russian corporation holding 36.4 million class A shares (11.48 percent of equity, 4.2 percent of votes) in Yandex.
The fund resumed investment in the Russian firm in the fourth quarter of 2017, having bought 5.1 million shares.
Based in Moscow, Yandex operates an Internet website and a search engine in Russia. The company offers news, shopping information, blogging, photography, music and video services. It also provides online taxi and food delivery services. The company reportedly gets most of its revenues from online advertising.
In August, Yandex announced the test launch of a new autonomous ride-hailing service in the Innopolis special economic zone. In December, the internet giant released its first smartphone, called Yandex.Phone, and launched its own home assistant smart speaker.
