J.C. Penney Co. investor Perry Corp. cut its investment in the struggling retailer by almost half as the department-store chain seeks to raise capital.

Perry owns about 10 million shares of J.C. Penney, amounting to a 3.3 percent stake, the New York-based firm said Monday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm held 19 million shares of the retailer as of Aug. 30, which at the time was an 8.6 percent stake.

Chief Executive Officer Mike Ullman is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on a share offering that may raise $932 million to help the retailer through the holiday season and fund its attempt to rebound from his predecessor’s failed transformation of the department-store chain.

J.C. Penney, based in Plano, Texas, fell 2.7 percent to $8.81 at the close in New York today. The shares have slid 55 percent this year, compared with an 18 percent gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.