5 Most Widely Held Stocks by Individuals

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1. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 306

Bank of America analyst Alkesh Shah recently added Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) to the list of his favorite software stocks for 2024. The analyst said Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is expected to continue to see gains from AI as he sees “incremental” growth in both Azure and Office thanks to AI. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the most popular stock among the 910 elite hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey.

As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 306 hedge funds reported having stakes in Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT).

In its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter, ClearBridge Dividend Strategy stated the following regarding Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT):

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the largest holding in our portfolio. Given its partnership with OpenAI and leading position in the cloud, Microsoft is well-positioned to profit from the boom in AI. However, due to Microsoft’s tremendous scale and diversification, the company is not dependent upon AI for its success. Microsoft’s diverse portfolio of software and cloud offerings ensures the company will thrive even if the next hot thing, like AI, fizzles out. In this way, Microsoft is emblematic of our broader investing approach. We seek to benefit from powerful trends, but we do so with an eye toward managing risk and limiting downside in case the future turns out to be less rosy than hoped for.”

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