Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen Global Growth Strategy” first-quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The fund returned 11.37% net in the first quarter compared to a return of 7.31% for the MSCI ACW Index. Global equity markets were volatile in the first quarter. The market rewarded quality fundamentals in January, and fear of inflation and central bank policy reemerged in February. However, despite the banking crisis, quality fundamentals were rewarded again in March. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Polen Global Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the first quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a multinational software company that develops, and licenses software, services, devices, and solutions. On April 24, 2023, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock closed at $281.77 per share. One-month return of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was 2.38%, and its shares gained 4.27% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has a market capitalization of $2.097 trillion.
Polen Global Growth Strategy made the following comment about Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q1 2023 investor letter:
“Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s fundamentals have largely stayed intact despite the headwinds many technology companies are facing due to the macroeconomic environment. While growth has decelerated below our longer-term target (we expect low-double-digit revenue growth over the next 3-5 years), we believe the deceleration should prove to be ephemeral. Azure and Office Commercial remain bright spots, while Windows OEM has been and will continue to be a drag over the next few quarters. With respect to Azure, even at a decelerated rate, the business continues to grow well. After eight consecutive quarters of Azure’s top line growth being in the mid-to-high-40s range, over the last two quarters, growth has been 42% and 38%, respectively. Microsoft is a scaled business with multiple and interlocking competitive advantages, and we believe the company will compound at high rates for a long period of time.”
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) holds the first position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 259 hedge fund portfolios held Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 269 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in another article and shared the list of best beginner stocks to buy in 2023. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.