A high-profile activist investor backing Legg Mason [profile] just slightly trimmed his stake. What's next?

Grace Williams of Barron's reports that last week Nelson Peltz's Trian Partners reduced its stake in the Baltimore-based mutual fund shop to 10.92 percent, from 11.48 percent, selling $34.8-million worth of shares. The move comes four months after Peltz himself resigned from Legg's board of directors.

A spokeswoman for Trian declined to comment to Barron's on the slight divestment, and Legg Mason told Barron's that the sale had to do with the expiration of a lock-up period related to shares that Trian's Trian Special Purpose Vehicle V bought back in 2009. Legg insisted that "Trian continues to be a large and engaged shareholder of Legg Mason." Trian is still Legg's single largest shareholder.

When Peltz left the Legg board in December, he stated that he and his team "currently expect to remain an engaged shareholder for the foreseeable future." Now Dominick Manaro, president of Executive Buying, tells Barron's that he wonders if the changes mean that Peltz "feels the majority of the low-hanging fruit has been picked." And Manaro also ponders "if this selling is indeed just the start of liquidating [Trian's] entire position." 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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