Ray Dalio's Bridgewater picks up chunk of Microsoft, ditches UPS

Bridgewater Associates LP added shares of Microsoft Corp. last quarter, sold stock in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and exited United Parcel Service Inc. The hedge fund added 586,400 shares of Microsoft and the value of its stake increased by $27.2 million to $27.9 million as of Dec. 31, the biggest increase among previously disclosed holdings, according to a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bridgewater cut its shares of SPDR S&P 500 ETF by 1.91 million shares, leaving 15.4 million shares valued at $3.16 billion. The value of the holding was reduced by $245.9 million, the biggest decrease among existing stakes. The firm liquidated its $14.7 million investment in UPS, selling 149,364 shares. Bridgewater's equity holdings declined in value by 2.3% to $12.5 billion, a period when the S&P 500 Index rose 4.4%. Last month, Bridgewater, the world's largest hedge fund manager, led most of its peers that invest across global markets based on economic themes, with an 8.3% gain. The firm, which manages $160 billion in Westport, Conn., posted its monthly gain in its Pure Alpha II fund, according to a person who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The fund rose 3.6% last year and has posted an annualized return of 13% since inception in 1991. Macro funds rose 2.6% on average in January, the best monthly return since December 2010, according to Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research Inc., as government debt rallied and oil slumped. The average hedge fund gained 0.5% last month and equity-focused strategies lost 0.6%. Bridgewater owned shares in 335 companies at the end of the quarter and 93 of them were newly reported, led by a $21.2 million stake in Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. and a $15.2 holding in United States Steel Corp. Money managers who oversee more than $100 million in equities in the U.S. must file a Form 13F within 45 days of each quarter's end to list those stocks as well as options and convertible bonds. The filings don't show non-U.S. securities, holdings that aren't publicly traded, or cash.