Adage Capital Partners’ Favorite Tech Stocks

#2 Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

– Shares Owned by Adage Capital Management (as of March 31): 11.67 million

– Value of Holding (as of March 31): $644.53 million

Though Adage Capital Management reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6% during the first quarter, the company continued to remain the fund’s second-largest equity holding at the end of that period. Like Alphabet Inc’s stock, shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) also took a big hit post the company announcing its first quarter numbers. However, so far they have managed to not convincingly fall below their very important technical support near the $50 mark, even though they are facing negative momentum and are currently trading down 10% year-to-date. While analysts agree that at current levels the stock might look overvalued, they also reason that due to the growth being displayed by its cloud business, Azure, Microsoft Corporation can quickly grow into its current valuation. On May 18, the software giant sold the feature business it inherited from its acquisition of Nokia to FIH Mobile (a subsidiary of Foxconn) and HMD Global for only $350 million. Harris Associates also initiated a stake in Microsoft Corporation during the first quarter; it purchased nearly 17.88 million shares of the company.

#1 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

– Shares Owned by Adage Capital Management (as of March 31): 8.46 million

– Value of Holding (as of March 31): $922.06 million

Finally, aided by Adage Capital Management increasing its stake in it by 5%, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) continued to hold on to its ‘numero uno’ spot in the fund’s equity portfolio at the end of the first quarter. Adage was not the only large hedge fund that increased its stake in Apple amid a downturn in the stock during the first quarter. Several other hedge funds did the same thing including billionaire David Einhorn‘s Greenlight Capital, which brought its holding in the company up by 31% to 8.21 million shares. However, the calculations of all of these hedge funds seems to have gone awfully wrong as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock has plummeted heavily in this quarter and are currently trading down over 11.27% year-to-date. Despite this slump, most analysts continue to remain bullish on the stock. The 47 leading analysts and research firms that track the stock currently have an average rating of ‘Buy’ and an average price target of $123.50 on it, which represents a potential upside of 30% from the stock’s current trading price.

Disclosure: None