NEW YORK (Thomson Financial) – A study of the top 25 holdings of the largest hedge funds showed investors pared their holdings of Microsoft Corp. by about 30% during the fourth quarter, according to Thomson Financial Proprietary Research. Funds also cut back their positions in WellPoint, Google Inc., and ConocoPhillips during the quarter.
During the preceding third quarter, top hedge funds had increased their Microsoft positions by 19%, Thomson said. There is one less Microsoft holder in the top 30, suggesting an elimination of the position during the fourth quarter, the market analysis firm said. A much deeper decrease in Microsoft holdings during the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter increase could imply that more managers will use future stock strength to exit positions in the software giant, Thomson said.
