Is Billionaire Julian Robertson Struggling With Large-Cap Stocks?

After Celgene, which represents Tiger Management’s largest long position as of the end of September, let’s move on to some of the fund’s picks from the tech sector. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was Tiger Management’s second-largest long position, being worth $26.40 million and containing 458,300 shares at the end of September, the latter being up by 13% over the quarter. In Microsoft, Tiger initiated a stake between April and June and saw the stock appreciate by nearly 13% during the third quarter. Moreover, since the beginning of the second-half of 2016, the stock is up by 22% and currently has a dividend yield of 2.35%. Earlier this month, Microsoft completed the acquisition of LinkedIn in a $26.2 billion deal that was the largest in its history. Moreover, according to recent reports, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is getting more involved in the hot Internet of Things space, including plans to add its virtual assistant Cortana to home environment devices, where Alphabet, Amazon, and others also have a presence. Overall, 126 funds in our database held shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) with a total value of $18.14 billion at the end of September, down from 131 funds and $18.82 billion, respectively, a quarter earlier.

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is one of Tiger Management’s longer-term picks, as the fund initiated a stake back in 2014. In the third quarter of the current year, the fund trimmed its position in Alphabet by 14% to 33,598 class C shares worth $26.12 million. Separately, the fund held 2,396 class A shares of the company. The stock of one of the best tech companies has gained over 7% since the beginning of 2016, as Alphabet has posted better-than-expected results in the last two quarters. With ad revenue still amassing the lion’s share of Alphabet’s top-line, the company is looking for ways to generate revenue from its other units amid concerns that the current model might not prove lucrative in the future. In this way, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is making progress in voice interaction and the Internet of Things, having recently launched Google Home, a standalone device that can be controlled by voice and answer questions, similar to Amazon’s Echo. Moreover, Alphabet recently announced that its self-driving car project will be included in a separate unit called Waymo. This was received by the public as a signal that Alphabet won’t focus on the objective of building a fully-autonomous car, but will try to incorporate the existing technology into vehicles built by other manufacturers, and in this way it might be capable of generating revenues sooner than expected. At the end of September, 134 funds from within our database held shares of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s class C stock, with a total value of $14.23 billion, which tops the nearly $12 billion in class C shares held by 126 funds a quarter earlier.