The biggest holdings, new positions, recent exits… and more
Data and research presented byJohn S Kiernan
The 50 largest U.S.-based hedge funds on the Barron’s Penta Top 100 Hedge Funds boast more than $6 trillion in assets. For comparison, that’s more than the GDP of the 36 smallest U.S. states combined. Furthermore, the median yearly earning for a hedge fund manager is now just under $350,000, but there are many who are billionaires.
So it makes sense that people pay attention to what they’re buying, selling and holding. We want to replicate their success. Hedge funds’ quarterly public disclosures, mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, give us a window into their recent activity.
To help investors make informed decisions about where to put their money, WalletHub analyzed the filings of over 400 top hedge funds, identifying their biggest holdings, new positions, recent exits and more. You can check it all out below, including a breakdown of the names that billionaire stock pickers – from Warren Buffett to George Soros – prefer these days.
25 Most Popular Hedge Fund Stocks
| Rank | Name of the Company | Ticker | Change from Last Quarter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Microsoft Corp. | MSFT | — |
| 2. | Amazon.com, Inc. | AMZN | — |
| 3. | Apple, Inc. | AAPL | — |
| 4. | Facebook, Inc. | FB | — |
| 5. | Alphabet, Inc. | GOOG | — |
| 6. | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | JPM | ↗ |
| 7. | Wells Fargo & Co. | WFC | ↙ |
| 8. | UnitedHealth Group, Inc. | UNH | ↗ |
| 9. | Bank of America Corp. | BAC | ↙ |
| 10. | Visa, Inc. | V | ↙ |
| 11. | Netflix, Inc. | NFLX | ↗ |
| 12. | Mastercard, Inc. | MA | ↗ |
| 13. | Citigroup, Inc. | C | ↙ |
| 14. | Comcast Corp. | CMCSA | ↙ |
| 15. | Intel Corp. | INTC | ↗ |
| 16. | Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | — |
| 17. | The Coca-Cola Company | KO | — |
| 18. | Booking Holdings, Inc. | BKNG | — |
| 19. | The Home Depot, Inc. | HD | ↙ |
| 20. | Adobe Systems, Inc. | ADBE | — |
| 21. | The Boeing Company | BA | ↙ |
| 22. | Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. | BRK.B | — |
| 23. | Broadcom Ltd. | AVGO | ↙ |
| 24. | Cisco Systems, Inc. | CSCO | ↙ |
| 25. | AbbVie, Inc. | ABBV | ↙ |
Top Billionaire Stock Picks
Hedge funds have become so popular that the billionaires behind them have celebrity status. Not only are they rich and famous, but they can move markets with just a few words. Investors worldwide follow their every move.
If you, too, are curious to see how billionaire investors such as Warren Buffett, Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman are making their money these days, just check out the following infographic. You’ll find the top three holdings of 12 big-name billionaires, plus an overview of the stocks they’ve been buying and selling lately.
Most Bought & Sold Stocks
Hedge funds’ most recent moves clue us into their managers’ latest thoughts on where the market is moving and which sectors are heating up or cooling down. Below, you can see which companies’ shares hedge funds have been grabbing lately, as well as those they’ve been selling particularly quickly.
Q1 2018’s Most Bought Stocks
| Rank | Company | Ticker Symbol |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple, Inc. | AAPL |
| 2 | Fortive Corp. | FTV |
| 3 | Aptiv PLC | APTV |
| 4 | NIKE, Inc. | NKE |
| 5 | Bank of America Corp. | BAC |
| 6 | Comcast Corp. | CMCSA |
| 7 | Microsoft Corp. | MSFT |
| 8 | Wells Fargo & Co. | WFC |
| 9 | Verizon Communications, Inc. | VZ |
| 10 | General Electric Co. | GE |
Q1 2018’s Most Sold Stocks
| Rank | Company | Ticker Symbol |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | International Business Machines Corp. | IBM |
| 2 | Amazon.com, Inc. | AMZN |
| 3 | Facebook, Inc. | FB |
| 4 | Aetna, Inc. | AET |
| 5 | The Boeing Company | BA |
| 6 | Celgene Corp. | CELG |
| 7 | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | JPM |
| 8 | Alphabet, Inc. | GOOGL |
| 9 | The Home Depot, Inc. | HD |
| 10 | Citigroup, Inc. | C |
Read the entire report, and more, here.
