5 Best Stocks to Buy According to Motley Fool

4. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Motley Fool’s Stake Value: $65,220,000

Percentage of Motley Fool’s 13F Portfolio: 4.17%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 262

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the Big Five United States technology giants. The company is involved in software development, computer hardware, consumer electronics, cloud computing, video games, and corporate venture capital. 

13F filings for the fourth quarter of 2021 reveal that Motley Fool owns 193,922 shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), worth $65.2 million, representing 4.17% of the total securities. 

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) posted Q1 2022 earnings on April 26. The company’s earnings per share of $2.22 topped consensus estimates by $0.02. The revenue of $49.36 billion grew 20.09% year-over-year, ahead of analysts’ predictions by $311.18 million. 

On April 26, BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman reiterated an Outperform rating on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) but lowered the firm’s price target on the stock to $340 from $355 to account for general compression of software valuations. Even with the possible impact of a weak PC market on Windows, Office, and Surface growth, he believes that his FY23 MPC estimates are reasonable, the analyst told investors in a research note.

According to Insider Monkey’s data, 262 hedge funds were bullish on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) at the end of December 2021, compared to 250 funds in the earlier quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is the leading shareholder of the company, with 26.8 million shares worth over $9 billion. 

Here is what Baron Opportunity Fund has to say about Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“Shares of Microsoft Corporation, a cloud-software leader and provider of software productivity tools and infrastructure, rose during the quarter, following a strong earnings report highlighting solid demand for its broad product stack and continued momentum migrating its business to the cloud. Microsoft’s results continued to be strong across the board, with total revenue growing 20% in constant currency, beating Street estimates by 3%; an acceleration in Commercial Cloud revenue to 34% constant-currency growth; operating margins expanding to just under 45%; earnings growth of 23%; and free cash flow growth of 30%. We believe the company is positioned to deliver 13% to 15% organic growth over the next three years, underpinned by total addressable market expansion and continued market share gains across its disruptive cloud product portfolio.”