Is Microsoft (MSFT) A Smart Long-Term Buy?

ClearBridge Investments, an investment management firm, published its “Sustainability Leaders Strategy” third quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. The ClearBridge Sustainability Leaders Strategy outperformed its Russell 3000 Index benchmark during the third quarter. On an absolute basis, the Strategy had gains in six of 10 sectors in which it was invested (out of 11 sectors total). You can take a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to have an idea about their best picks for 2021.

ClearBridge Sustainability Leaders Strategy, in its Q3 2021 investor letter, mentioned Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and discussed its stance on the firm. Microsoft Corporation is a Redmond, Washington-based multinational technology conglomerate holding company with a $2.5 trillion market capitalization. MSFT delivered a 51.21% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 51.21%. The stock closed at $336.32 per share on December 31, 2021.

Here is what ClearBridge Sustainability Leaders Strategy has to say about Microsoft Corporation  in its Q3 2021 investor letter:

“The Strategy modestly outperformed the benchmark; consistent with our fundamental approach that seeks balanced exposure to industries and the growth and value spectrum, performance was driven by companies from diverse sectors. Microsoft, which develops software including the Windows family of products, the Microsoft Office system and the Azure cloud platform, and is a leader in data protection and customer privacy as well as human rights and diversity, contributed strongly as earnings maintained positive sentiment. Microsoft is seeing a number of businesses reach a new, higher level of engagement, adoption and momentum.”

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Based on our calculations, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) tops our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. MSFT was in 250 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2021, compared to 238 funds in the previous quarter. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) delivered a 16.33% return in the past 3 months.

In December 2021, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on MSFT in another article. You can find more than 100 investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q3 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.