5 Best Technology Stocks According To This $32 Billion Market-Beating Fund

In NetEase Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:NTES), Renaissance amassed 1.99 million shares worth $479 million at the end of September, down by 398,000 shares over the quarter. NetEase Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:NTES) is one of the biggest producers of online games in China with millions of subscribers. Besides gaming, the company is also present in providing email and e-commerce businesses. Arrowstreet Capital Management increased its position by 711,000 shares to 1.17 million shares during the third quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management was another notable hedge fund which started a new position in the stock by purchasing 233,000 shares worth $56 million. NetEase Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:NTES)’s stock has advanced by more than 19% over the last year. At the end of the third quarter, 39 funds tracked by us held shares worth $2.97 billion, versus 27 funds owning $2.8 billion worth of stock a quarter earlier.

During the third quarter, Renaissance Technologies acquired 476,648 class A shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), boosting its holding to  524,048 shares worth $421.37 million. Though the stock has inched up by only 6% over the last year, it trades near the top of its annual trading range. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has a large number of potential revenue drivers for the future given its myriad investments in upcoming technology products and services such as maps, smartphones, self-driving car technology, etc. In its last quarterly report, the company topped analysts’ estimates on both revenues and earnings. The number of smart money managers followed by Insider Monkey long Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) went up by two to 137.

Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) is one of the world’s largest domain name registrars of the Internets. Besides providing DNS services, the company has also diversified into providing security solutions to its extensive client base. Renaissance Technologies held 4.71 million shares worth $368 million at the end of the third quarter, making it the seventh largest holding of the fund. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is another investor bullish on Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) holding shares worth over $1 billion. The stock has not done well over the last year losing 11% of its value though it has more than doubled over the last five years. Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) is highly profitable having registered a net margin of almost 40% on revenue of $287 million during its last quarter. According to our database, 26 hedge funds held shares of Verisign at the end of September, compared to 30 funds at the end of June.

Renaissance Technologies was bullish on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the third quarter as it bought 3.99 million shares increasing its total holding to 6.10 million shares valued at $351 million. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has performed extremely well under Satya Nadella’s leadership who has turned around this behemoth which was floundering under its former CEO, Steve Ballmer. The company has become a major force in new technology growth areas such as cloud computing. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock has been one of the best-performing technology mega caps, showing a gain of over 17% over the last year. The number of investors from our database with stakes in Microsoft declined to 126 from 131 during the third quarter, while the aggregate value of their positions fell to $18.1 billion from $18.8 billion.

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