Paulson & Co., the hedge fund founded by billionaire John Paulson, recently sold some of its holding shares of the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) physical bullion ETF for the second quarter in a row, according to an article published on Bloomberg.

Paulson—while still the largest stakeholder in GLD—held 17.3 million shares in GLD as of Dec. 31, 2011, a 15 percent drop from the 20.3 million shares his hedge fund held in September, according to the Bloomberg report, which cited regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other companies such as Vinik Asset Management LP, Tudor Investment Corp. and SAC Capital Advisors LP sold shares of gold as well.

However, Lone Pine Capital LLC and billionaire investor George Soros increased holdings, the Bloomberg article said.

Thanks to gold’s performance of last year—it rose around 8 percent—profits from the unloading of gold holdings may be used to cover some of the losses investors may have suffered in other areas of the market, notably equities, the wire service said.

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