3. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 135
There is a broad consensus among both hedge funds and Wall Street analysts regarding the attractiveness of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as a compelling long-term investment. This agreement is underpinned by several factors, including Apple Inc.’s strong product portfolio, substantial growth in services and software, as well as its continued dedication to innovation and long-term strategies. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) unveiled its financial results for FQ3 on August 3, surpassing Wall Street expectations with a GAAP EPS of $1.26, exceeding estimates by $0.07. Similar to other names on our list, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has garnered long-standing favor from billionaire Warren Buffett.
Our hedge fund data for the first quarter indicates that 135 hedge funds were bullish on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Their collective stake was valued at $194 billion. Notably, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway emerged as the largest stakeholder in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) at the close of the first quarter, holding an impressive 915.56 million shares in the company.
Choice Equities Capital Management made the following comment about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Dramatic valuation differences across market cap sizes continue. This has been the case for some time now. Perhaps I have spent too much time discussing these dichotomies, as generally, I feel like if we pick the right stocks and manage market exposures thoughtfully, our equities- oriented portfolio will prosper across various market cycles. However, when markets become as lopsided as they have lately, I feel additional discussion on the market environment is worthwhile, if only to help highlight the opportunities that are available and the likely path forward. I expect future discussions to soon be focused again on our moderately concentrated portfolio. But for now, let’s take one last in-depth look at how far reaching these valuation dichotomies have again become.(Please note: charts that accompany the following can be found in the Appendix.)
Take Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) for example. It is the largest stock by market cap, and fairly considered one of the best companies in the world. The company has been extraordinarily successful and improved standards of living everywhere in the process with their ubiquitous products. Along the way, shareholders have been richly rewarded, with shares increasing nearly fourteen-fold over the last ten years while generating an annualized total shareholder return of 31%, including dividends.
On the back of another big quarter for large cap tech, it is now the first stock to surpass the $3T market cap threshold. This makes its weighting in the ~$37T market cap of the S&P 500, ~8%. It also means this one stock’s market cap is larger than that of the entire ~$2.98T market cap of the Russell 2000 index, the first time in history a single stock has outweighed the Russell 2000 – aside from two brief days in September 2020 when Apple’s market cap then accomplished the same…” (Click here to read the full text)
