By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - Two of Wall Street's most closely watched billionaire stock pickers, both once voluble activist investors, took opposite tacks this year when Bill Ackman bet on Microsoft and exited Google parent Alphabet and Daniel Loeb did the opposite.
Ackman said on X his firm Pershing Square began building a new position in software giant Microsoft in February after shares dropped, saying investors weren't giving it enough credit for its Microsoft 365 office
suite and artificial intelligence investments.
Loeb's hedge fund Third Point, on the other hand, sold 925,000 shares of Microsoft during the first quarter, liquidating a position the firm had held since late 2022, according to a new regulatory filing.
Ackman and Loeb once ranked among Wall Street's loudest activist investors, pushing companies to perform better with suggestions ranging from selling off divisions to firing CEOs.
In recent years, both have adopted a quieter tone, sidestepping public fights that generated headlines, and instead making stock picks and riding along. Picks by the two are closely followed by investors parsing their quarterly filings.
Loeb's Third Point reported it bought 175,000 shares in Google parent Alphabet in the first quarter, while Ackman sold down most of his position in the company, according to a regulatory filing. A source said Ackman exited the rest of his Alphabet holding in the second quarter.
Also during the first quarter, both Pershing Square and Third Point established new positions in Meta Platforms, their filings show. Reuters first reported the position in February when Ackman told clients the technology and social media heavyweight will benefit from artificial intelligence.
The regulatory filings showed Loeb and Ackman and other big investors who filed their quarterly 13F holding data with the Securities and Exchange Commission are being more selective in investing in the "Magnificent Seven" AI giants, a group that includes Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Additional reporting by Suzanne McGee; Editing by Tom Hogue)
