In this article, we will discuss the 10 stocks to buy according to Ronald Hua’s QTRON Investments. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of Hua’s history, investment philosophy, and hedge fund performance, go directly to the 5 Stocks To Buy According To Ronald Hua’s QTRON Investments.
Hedge fund manager Ronald Hua is the co-founder of the Boston-based investment management firm, QTRON Investments. Having earned his M.S and his M.B.A in Computer Science from New York University, Ronald Hua began his career in investment management and market analysis as a quantitative research analyst at Fidelity Management and Research Company. He later served as a portfolio manager at Putnam Investments for five years, managing international and US small-cap funds. After leaving Putnam, he joined PanAgora Asset Management as Chief Investment Officer of Equities alongside later-to-be co-founder of QTRON Investments, Dmitri Kantsyrev.
According to the second quarter 13F filings, QTRON Investments oversees more than $394.6 million in its investment portfolio. QTRON Investments’ portfolio is diversified across 12 primary sectors, with the Technology sector being the largest one, making up 17.4% of the total portfolio value.
Some of the top stocks present in the investment portfolio of QTRON Investments at the end of the second quarter of 2021 include Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), among others discussed in detail below.
Our Methodology
With this context in mind, let us now analyze the 10 stocks to buy according to Ronald Hua’s QTRON Investments. We looked into QTRON Investments’ 13F portfolio for the second quarter for this analysis, ranking the stocks based on the their holdings value.
Why should we pay attention to Ronald Hua’s stock picks? Insider Monkey’s research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 86 percentage points since March 2017. Between March 2017 and July 2021 our monthly newsletter’s stock picks returned 186.1%, vs. 100.1% for the SPY. Our stock picks outperformed the market by 86 percentage points (see the details here). That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our homepage to receive our stories in your inbox.
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Stocks To Buy According To Ronald Hua’s QTRON Investments
10. Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY)
QTRON Investments’ Stake Value: $4.79 million
Percentage of QTRON Investments’ 13F Portfolio: 1.21%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 22
Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY) is an Indian multinational information technology company that offers business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services.
On October 14, BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman raised his price target on Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY) to $25 from $23, and kept a Market Perform rating on the shares of the company.
According to the second quarter 13F Filings, QTRON Investments holds 226,253 shares in the company, amounting to more than $4.79 million in worth and representing 1.21% of the fund’s portfolio value. Of the 873 elite funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 22 held stakes in Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY) in the second quarter of 2021.
9. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR)
QTRON Investments’ Stake Value: $5 million
Percentage of QTRON Investments’ 13F Portfolio: 1.27%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 25
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A.– Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) is a state-owned Brazilian multinational corporation involved in the petroleum industry, with operations including the drilling, refining, processing, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas.
Out of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, the Florida-based GQG Partners is the leading shareholder in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) with over 138.9 million shares amounting to $1.69 billion.
Ronald Hua’s QTRON Investments currently holds 411,385 shares in the company, worth more than $5 million, accounting for 1.27% of the investment firm’s portfolio value. Of the 873 elite funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, 25 reported holding stakes in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR).
On October 11, Citi analyst Gabriel Barra took over coverage of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) and kept a Buy rating on the shares with a $14 price target.
8. Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:FB)
QTRON Investments’ Stake Value: $5.06 million
Percentage of QTRON Investments’ 13F Portfolio: 1.28%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 266
Formerly known as Facebook, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is a leading social networking and technology company based in Menlo Park, California.
Ronal Hua reported owning 14,566 shares in Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), worth $5.06 million, accounting for 1.28% of his hedge fund’s Q2 portfolio.
Alexander Becker of Codex Capital is the biggest stakeholder of Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) as of the end of the second quarter, according to the data tracked by Insider Monkey. Overall, 266 funds were bullish on Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) by the end of the June quarter, compared to 257 in the previous quarter.
On October 28, Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion maintained a Neutral rating on Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) with a $385 price target on its shares.
Polen Capital, in its Q3 2021 investor letter, mentioned Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:FB). Here is what the fund said:
“Facebook’s stock was pressured on concerns about regulation in the quarter. We are constantly monitoring the potential regulatory risks to Facebook (and all of our holdings). At this point, we see very little chance that regulation changes Facebook’s business model in a meaningful and adverse way. Regarding the recent data shared by a former Facebook employee and the company itself on some of the unfortunate negative consequences of social media, we recognize these types of issues will inevitably linger in different forms and fashions well into the future. We have been focused on the ability of Facebook to identify and mitigate these negative consequences while amplifying the value users typically cite for its apps across a long list of use cases. We continuously monitor the vibrance of the user base on Facebook’s apps to confirm that value.”
7. JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD)
QTRON Investments’ Stake Value: $5.45 million
Percentage of QTRON Investments’ 13F Portfolio: 1.38%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 76
JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD) is a company that provides retail infrastructure and operates an online e-commerce marketplace headquartered in Beijing, China.
According to the securities filings for the second quarter of 2021, QTRON Investments holds 68,295 shares of JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD), amounting to $5.45 million in worth and accounting for 1.38% of the fund’s portfolio. Of the 873 elite funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, 76 held stakes in JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD) at the end of the second quarter of 2021.
On September 15, investment advisory Stifel reiterated a Buy rating on JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD) and raised the price target to $100 from $90.
Out of the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey’s database, New York-based investment firm D1 Capital Partners is a major shareholder in JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD) with over 15.5 million shares worth more than $1.2 billion.
In addition to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD) is a stock investors are interested in.
In the Q2 2021 investor letter of Arisaig Partners, the fund mentioned JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD). Here is what the fund had to say:
“JD.com, for example, continues to display impressive operating momentum, with sales on track to grow around 30% this year by our estimates. Looking longer term, this company is making a credible claim to be the dominant player in Chinese grocery ecommerce, an enormous chunk of overall consumption in China, and the last one yet to move online in a big way. We think that JD has a clear advantage over rivals here thanks to its integrated and fully self-managed logistics capabilities. Whereas an offline big box retailer might have 10-20,000 SKUs, JD offers 8 million. 90% of orders fulfilled by JD Logistics can be delivered on the same day or the next day to 500 million customers. The fact that JD has just 30 days of inventory tells us that this is a highly-optimised fulfilment chain. It is very hard to be both fast and efficient, and in order to achieve this it is necessary to know what inventory to hold in which warehouse, and when to hold it (“right place, right time, right person”), a highly information-intensive challenge. The only other retailer that comes close to being able to manage that level of complexity is Amazon, and indeed these are capabilities that are very hard to replicate, taking decades of painstaking investment, trial and error testing, and data accumulation.
Moreover, far from being some sort of ‘victim’, this company is most likely a beneficiary of tighter regulation in this sector. A recurrent message running through JD’s recent investor day was that of “deep purpose”, the objective being to create shared value for a broader ecosystem of customers, merchants and employees. As we describe in the next section on “Navigating China”, this form of alignment with the strategic objectives of the government is a very China-specific way of conceptualising ESG, and essential for all businesses that operate in this country to get right…” (Click here to see the full text)
6. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
QTRON Investments’ Stake Value: $5.6 million
Percentage of QTRON Investments’ 13F Portfolio: 1.41%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 155
One of the big five technology companies, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) operates a diverse network of internet platforms.
By the end of June, 155 funds out of the 873 tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), compared to 159 in the previous quarter. QTRON Investments holds 25,868 shares in the company, amounting to over $69.15 million.
On October 27, Jefferies analyst Brent Thill raised his price target on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) to $3,500 from $3,325, and kept a Buy rating on the shares.
Alger, in its Q3 2021 investor letter, mentioned Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). Here is what the fund said:
“Alphabet Inc. was among the top contributors to performance during the third quarter. Alphabet is a leading internet search provider and is a beneficiary in the share shift of advertising dollars from traditional mediums like television, radio and newspapers to digital platforms. The company is a leader in implementing Al, autonomous vehicles and cloud computing it and owns the highly trafficked YouTube property. Alphabet contributed to performance due to a strong quarterly report highlighted by revenue growth that beat consensus expectations across segments. The company’s core search revenues have increased 10% over the past two years, with cloud computing increasing 8%. Results from YouTube also exceeded expectations. When discussing quarterly results, Alphabet management said retail, entertainment and travel were end markets that were particularly strong. The fixed cost structure of Alphabet’s search service resulted in profitability resulting from the increase in revenues being better than expected.”
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Disclosure: None. 10 Stocks To Buy According To Ronald Hua’s QTRON Investments is originally published by Insider Monkey.
