Hedge funds are divided over the prospects for Microsoft, the Bill Gates-founded software giant, whose stock has emerged as the most bought but also among the heavily sold in the second quarter of 2017, new data shows.

Between April and June, the world’s top 10 hedge funds by equity assets spent $1.2bn buying up more than 18 million Microsoft shares, according to research published today by S&P Global Market Intelligence. However, sales of the stock by hedge funds totalled almost $1.2bn over the same period, the third highest figure for any US company.