Jeffrey Ubben Has a Surprise Entry Among His Top Stock Picks

ValueAct’s Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) holding occupied the second spot in its portfolio, with the position being increased by 1% over the quarter to 75.27 million shares valued at $3.06 billion. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) hasn’t let declining revenues from its Windows segment affect to its performance over the past year, as the stock has appreciated by more than 20% in this time period. The renewed focus on cloud services by its CEO, Satya Nadella has  proven to be quite a catalyst for the $390.69 billion software giant. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s cloud products including Office 365, Azure, and Dynamics CRM have been gaining traction among both enterprise customers and consumers. With the launch of its new Windows 10, which will have seven different versions including Mobile, Mobile Enterprise and IoT Core, Microsoft is also hoping to gain a greater market share of the smartphone market. Although it held the number three spot in market share in the mobile industry last year according to IDC, its share only amounted to 2.7%, well behind the market share of Google Inc (NASDAQGOOG)’s Android and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iOS. Other prominent stockholders of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) include Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management and Boykin Curry’s Eagle Management.

Moving on to the surprise that was packed into ValueAct’s first quarter filing, the fund increased its stake in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) by a hefty 61% during the quarter to 33.76 million shares valued at $1.48 billion. The stock is up by nearly 19% year-to-date on the back of rebounding oil prices (Crude Oil WTI futures are up by about 7.3%in 2015). Additionally, by cutting expenses and reducing headcount, the company beat estimates for its first quarter financial results, posting an EPS of $0.49, $0.12 ahead of expectations. Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) is expected to complete its $35 billion acquisition of Baker Hughes in the second quarter of this year. Besides Ubben, Glenn Greenberg and Lee Ainslie also hold Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in their fund’s portfolios.

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