Rapid technological improvements in robotics, Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and Internet of Things is automating things faster and faster. Though it is a boon for productivity, it may also make many workers redundant. Machines and robots will gradually replace mechanical and repetitive tasks performed by not only unskilled but white collar workers as well. Having said that, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a massive opportunity for technology companies. It is a way to connect the physical world to the internet and close the gap between these two. With IoT the world is looking at improving operations, increasing safety and security and gaining valuable insight on data. A recent Mckinsey report states that despite all the hype, the potential of the IoT industry may be understated. IoT has a total potential economic impact of $3.9 trillion to $11.1 trillion a year by 2025 equivalent to about 11% of the world economy.
Many technological giants are eyeing the opportunity and have already made major investments. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) have already started to introduce products and services in the IoT domain. Other corporate behemoths like Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), and General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) are also bullish on this industry. We have selected five top IoT stocks that ranked as the most popular among the hedge fund community.
We follow over 700 hedge funds and other institutional investors and by analyzing their quarterly 13F filings, we identify stocks that they are collectively bullish on and develop investment strategies based on this data. One strategy that outperformed the market over the last year involves selecting the 100 best-performing funds and identifying the 30 mid-cap stocks that they are collectively the most bullish on. Over the past year, this strategy generated returns of 18%, topping the 8% gain registered by S&P 500 ETFs.
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Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)
Intel has given the IoT industry various products ranging from its Quark line for small-form factor appliances to Atom processors. It has developed all the pieces for an IoT suite such as processors, software, services and security. Results are already showing with the IoT segment showing the most rapid growth amongst all other segments. During the third quarter of 2016, the division generated $689 million showing a year on year growth of 19%.
Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management increased its total holding in the stock to 19.9 million shares worth $723 million, by buying an additional 124,178 shares during the third quarter. While Arrowstreet Capital reduced its stake in the stock by 6%, it still held 10.3 million shares worth $389 million. Richard Pzena’s Pzena investment Management also sold 761,851 shares but held 8.56 million shares worth $323 million at the end of September. Overall, during the third quarter, the total number of funds from our database long Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) increased to 68 from 57.
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Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) provides a range of services varying from network connectivity to data storage, and analysis, and management, automation and security of data. According to the company, 95% of the business executives plan to launch an IoT business within three years. Its acquisition of industry leading IoT service platform Jasper during the last year further strengthened its IoT foot holding.
During the third quarter, Fisher Asset management bought 57,026 shares, increasing its holding to 15.58 million shares worth $471 million. Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management also bought an additional 1.38 million shares and held 13.33 million shares worth $422 million at the end of September. Though Arrowstreet Capital reduced its stake in the stock by 17% it still held 9.87 million shares valued at $313 million at the end of the third quarter. Overall, the hedge fund sentiment towards Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) improved during the third quarter, with the number of funds tracked by us bullish on the stock increasing by five to 66 and the value of their holdings also went up to $4.6 billion from $4.25 billion.
