Billionaire Asness’ Secret Formula Points To Apple, Microsoft, and Pfizer

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As mentioned, Asness increased his equity holding in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 42%, ending the first quarter with 13.22 million shares worth $537.46 million. Microsoft returned 14% since the beginning of the current year, while the company’s performance remains quite strong. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has managed to combat the company’s main problem of declining sales in personal computers since taking over the helm of the company. Although this decline in demand affects Microsoft’s financial results, the company is less dependent on PC sales now and is more focused on its commercial cloud business, which has posted 100% year-over-year growth for six consecutive fiscal quarters. Considering Satya Nadella’s expertise in building and running Microsoft’s Computing Platforms and Cloud Computing Services, it’s highly likely that the extraordinary growth of its commercial cloud business will continue further. From the pool of hedge funds that we track, Jeffrey Ubben’s ValueAct Capital represents the largest investor in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), owning 75.27 million shares.

Pfizer was AQR’s third-biggest position at the end of the first quarter. AQR Capital reported selling a stake of 995,563 shares in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), decreasing its holding to 12.94 million shares valued at $450.11 million. The stock has grown by over 9% year-to-date and by more than 125% over the last five years. On June 15, Pfizer announced that it is taking the first steps towards building a $95 million consumer products production facility in China. The new plant will help Pfizer increase its production capacity so as to meet the fast-growing demand for the company’s brands in China. Unquestionably, Pfizer will be able to boost its revenues on the Chinese market, which will eventually help the company flourish in the upcoming years. Within our database, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is the top investor in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), owning 31.21 million shares.

Disclosure: None

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