UPDATE 1-Ackman raises cash by selling McDonalds, EMC-filing

* Pershing Square raises cash during fourth quarter

* Sells out of positions in McDonald's and EMC

(Adds details of stock movements, fund's strategy, background)

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Activist hedge fund manager William Ackman raised hundreds of millions of dollars in cash when he liquidated positions in fast food chain McDonald's (MCD.N) and network storage company EMC (EMC.N) during the fourth quarter.

Ackman's New York-based Pershing Square Capital Management had owned 58.7 million shares of EMC and 8.2 million shares of McDonald's at the end of the third quarter, regulatory filings showed.

Pershing Square is known for taking concentrated positions in a few stocks, building them quickly after carefully working out an investment strategy.

There is no indication yet on where the fund firm, whose flagship portfolio gained over 50 percent in 2009, plans to put the cash to work.

During the quarter Pershing Square also made new bets on Hyatt Hotels (H.N) by buying 2.76 million shares and restaurant chain Landry's Restaurants by purchasing 1.6 million shares, according to a regulatory filing released on Tuesday.

Pershing Square sold its stake in Hyatt in January and no longer invests in the company, according to other regulatory filings.

The fund announced its position in Landry's Restaurants Inc LNY.N in November.

Again the fund quickly bought a large chunk of America's second-largest seafood restaurant operator after the company's CEO Tilman Fertitta, who has been trying to take the company private for two years, offered a price the hedge fund firm thought was too low. The share price now trades at $19.57, far above the $14.75 per share price Fertitta, who owns most of the company, initially offered minority shareholders.

Pershing Square also boosted its stake in Corrections Corporation of America (CXW.N) to 10.9 million after buying 7.4 million shares in the third quarter.

Large investors like Pershing Square are required to report holdings of U.S.-listed equities at the end of each quarter, but not short positions or holdings of other securities like bonds and over-the-counter derivatives contracts. Investors are also allowed to file some holdings on confidential reports if they are trading into or out of a position at the end of a quarter.

Ackman, who had invested heavily in Target Corp (TGT.N). for years, made headlines in 2009 with a high-profile proxy fight to replace a number of the retailer's directors with a slate of independent directors that included him.

Even though his bid failed, Ackman has said that the battle laid the groundwork for better corporate governance.

During the fourth quarter he trimmed his holdings of Target to 20.7 million shares from 26 million shares.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss)