Anand Chokkavelu, CFA: Berkshire Hathaway and Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN). I picked up most of my shares in these two during the financial crisis, and they have grown to be my largest holdings (excluding Vanguard ETFs and a microcap bank). Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway finally won my dollars when I saw the sweetheart deals troubled-at-the-time companies, like Goldman Sachs and General Electric were throwing at Buffett in exchange for his investing seal of approval. Since I couldn’t get those deals myself, investing in the master was the next-best thing. As for Accenture, I gained first-hand knowledge of the quality of its consulting operations as an employee. Both Berkshire and Accenture remain companies I expect to hold for a long time. (More)
Tamara Rutter: Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT). I first purchased shares in these companies when I started working for The Motley Fool in 2011. My positions in the stocks have grown significantly since then, as I took advantage of dips in the stock prices. Today, the electric carmaker and discount retailer are my two largest holdings. Tesla caught my attention after the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, came to speak at Fool headquarters two years ago. Musk struck me as a disruptive innovator, and Tesla as a company that would grow from humble beginnings to transform the auto industry. I haven’t looked back since. Target, on the other hand, was a company I had followed for many years. I liked Target’s ongoing partnerships with fashion’s top designers, and believed in the company’s plan to expand into Canada. I suspect both Tesla and Target will be core holdings in my portfolio for years to come. (More)
David Meier: InvenSense Inc (NYSE:INVN) and Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ:INFN). Over the years, I have learned a great deal about the power of disruptive companies. Not only can they transform industries, they can transform portfolios, too. InvenSense’s motion control sensors are finding their ways into all sorts of devices, from smartphones and tablets to wearable computers. Infinera manufactures optical network equipment that enables telecoms to meet the ever-growing demand for data in a cost-effective manner. Over the next five years, I think both of these disruptive technology companies can generate multi-bagger returns, which is why they are my top two holdings. (More)
Nicole Seghetti: Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) and Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL). I bought Caterpillar in the midst of the financial crisis, as the construction and building industry was coming to a screeching halt. I liked the company’s industry-leading position and its product and geographic diversification. I was interested in buying Caterpillar to potentially profit from the global trend of urbanization. I bought Oracle in 1998, rode it up the tech bubble, suffered through the tech bust, and held on to it. I like the company’s recurring revenue business model, high customer retention, and synergies from acquisitions. Both Caterpillar and Oracle remain companies that I think are great for investors today, and that I intend to hold for many years. (More)
Robert Eberhard: Berkshire Hathaway and Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM). These holdings were among the first I purchased when building my portfolio anew last year. Berkshire Hathaway, led by Warren Buffett and team, is probably the best allocator of capital available in the market today, both among its stock portfolio and the companies that it buys outright. Waste Management is the leading trash hauler in America, and this is one of the reasons it has been able to boost its dividend for each of the past 10 years, something that I expect to continue. Now that I have built my portfolio to the number of companies that I am comfortable with, both of these companies will be the first to receive any new money. (More)
Sean Williams: Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc (USA) (NYSE:TC) and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) . Both companies originally caught my attention for being deeply discounted and widely disliked – a perfect combination for my value-oriented and contrarian portfolio.
I picked up the majority of my shares in Thompson Creek last year, shortly after it fell off a cliff in May. Higher costs for the build-out of its Mt. Milligan copper and gold mine have worried investors, but I see plenty of profit potential once the mine comes online in the fourth-quarter of this year. With copper in high demand in China, and its remaining 48% gold interest there to offset its production costs, Mt. Milligan could be one of the lowest-cost copper mines in existence when it’s completed.
As for Bank of America, its attraction was in the brand value and the fact that I felt it had the underlying assets to support a significantly higher valuation. With many of my shares purchased in November 2011, I’ve more than doubled my original investment, and anticipate its better liquidity, higher Treasury rates, and the potential for a heftier dividend could send it modestly higher from here. (More)
Matt DiLallo: Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) and Autoliv Inc. (NYSE:ALV). I’ve added these two lesser-known names to my portfolio through the strategic use of options. In both cases, the companies have slowly grown to the top of my portfolio, while I’ve harvested income off the top by writing covered calls. I like that both are driven by the mission to provide a solution to some of our world’s greatest challenges. At Monsanto, the mission is simple: It wants to help feed the world. Autoliv’s mission is simply to save lives. As each meets these challenges head on I believe both will provide investors with profitable growth for years to come. I plan on holding each for as long as I can harvest options income, though I’d not be afraid to let either be called away if the valuation were ever to get too rich. (More)
John Reeves: My two top holdings are Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Apple. In my personal portfolio, I like to keep things super simple. First, I look for outstanding businesses with solid balance sheets. Then, I look for management I can trust. Finally, I like companies that have promising growth prospects. Clearly, Google and Apple deliver on all three fronts. I especially like that both are well-positioned to benefit from the huge mobile trend. Recently, I’ve been adding to my position in Apple. It’s the most profitable company in the world, and it has tremendous demand for its products. Oh, and it pays a generous dividend! I honestly can’t envision a future that doesn’t involve both of these two companies prospering. That’s why they’re my two biggest holdings. (More)
The article 16 Analysts Reveal Their Top 2 Stocks originally appeared on Fool.com.
Anand Chokkavelu, CFA organized this roundtable and owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway, Bank of America, Apple, McDonald’s, Intuitive Surgical, Accenture, and Portfolio Recovery Associates. The Motley Fool recommends Accenture, Apple, Autoliv, Berkshire Hathaway, Chevron, Goldman Sachs, Google, Infinera , Intuitive Surgical, McCormick, McDonald’s, Netflix, Nike, Portfolio Recovery Associates, Starbucks, Tesla Motors , and Waste Management. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, Google, Infinera , Intuitive Surgical, InvenSense, McDonald’s, Netflix, Nike, Oracle., Portfolio Recovery Associates, Starbucks, Tesla Motors , and Waste Management. The Motley Fool is short InvenSense.
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