5 Best Dow Stocks To Buy Now

In this article, we’re going to present 5 best Dow stocks to buy now based on their performance and their popularity among smart money investors. To find out why you should consider investing in Dow stocks and what other companies have made the list, check out 10 best Dow Stocks to Buy Now.

5. salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), whose shares surged by more than 35% since the beginning of the year, as the company has been continuously posting double-digit revenue growth. For the last quarter, salesforce posted revenue of $5.24 billion, up by 20% on the year, which represented the slowest growth in years. Nevertheless, the revenue as well as EPS of $1.74 topped the consensus estimate by $162.50 million and $0.99, respectively.

Earlier this month, salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) signed a definitive agreement to acquire Slack Technologies Inc (NYSE:WORK) for nearly $28 billion, including $26.79 billion in cash. The deal, is expected to close during the second quarter of fiscal 2022. Analysts received the deal with mixed opinions, with some expressing concerns that the value might be too high, while others saying that the synergies that the deal would offer would pay off. Among the analysts that remained or became bullish on salesforce are Raymond James, Wedbush, and CFRA, with the latter upgrading the stock to Strong Buy and raising the price target to $309. On the other hand, Citi, MKM Partners, Cowen, and Wells Fargo, where among those who downgraded the stock on the back of the announcement.

There were 106 funds tracked by Insider Monkey that held shares of salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), down by one over the quarter. However, the total value of these funds’ positions appreciated to $11.09 billion from $9.77 billion. Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management holds nearly $3.0 billion worth of salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s shares. Other shareholders include Brad Gerstner’s Altimeter Capital Management, Raiv Jain’s GQG Partners, and David Goel and Paul Ferri’s Matrix Capital Management.

4. Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS)

The number of funds bullish on Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) went up by seven to 112 between June and September and the aggregate value of their holdings surged to $8.98 billion from $6.82 billion. Among these funds, David Shaw’s D E Shaw is one of the most bullish, having raised its stake more than threefold to 6.59 million shares, ranking on the third spot behind Fisher Asset Management and Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management, which own 9.50 million shares and 9.43 million shares, respectively.

Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS)’s shares have gained 17% so far this year, staging a recovery from a massive drop in the first months caused by the pandemic that shut down the company’s parks, resorts, and cruises. However, the companys’s streaming service, Disney Plus, which was launched in November, has been seen as a smashing success. At the beginning of December, Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) held its Investor Day event, where it announced that Disney Plus had hit 86.8 million subscribers, which represented an 18% growth from the previous month. This is impressive as when the service was launched, the company set a projection of 60 million to 90 million subscribers by 2024.

Currently, Disney has a forecast of 230 million to 260 million subscribers by 2024, while for its entire family of streaming services, which also includes ESPN Plus and Hulu, it anticipates to reach between 300 million to 350 million. Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) plans to add more content and has raised the cost of the service by $1.00 to $7.99.

3. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) saw 134 funds holding $127.30 billion worth of stock, up from 128 funds with stakes worth $106 billion a quarter earlier. However, despite having so many investors owning shares, the bulk of the stock is owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. In its latest 13F filing, Berkshire reported ownership of 944.30 million shares, up by 290% on the quarter. Buffett’s stake is worth nearly $110 billion. Other shareholders of Apple include Fisher Asset Management, AQR Capital Management, and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.

Since the beginning of the year, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s shares have surged by 76%. Despite store closures around the world, Apple managed to maintain its sales levels, even though latest results showed lower sales in China due to late delivery of the iPhone 12 model. The company expects sales to grow this quarter and into the next year. This seems to be supported by some analysts. For example, Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty has recently reiterated its Outperform rating and $144 price target on Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), saying that iPhone sales are performing better than expected in China. Moreover, there have been many discussions about Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) potentially releasing a car by itself or in partnership with another carmaker like Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA).

2. Visa Inc (NYSE:V)

Then there’s Visa Inc (NYSE:V), in which the number of funds with bullish positions went up by six to 160, as the stock inched up by 9.20% since the beginning of the year. Visa posted a double-digit decline in revenue for the last two quarters. For the quarter ended September, Visa reported revenue of $5.10 billion, down by 16.88% on the year, but $71 million higher than expected, while for the June quarter, the company’s revenue slid by 17.17% to $4.84 billion and was $10 million lower than the consensus.

Among the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, the largest shareholder of Visa Inc (NYSE:V) is Fisher Asset Management, which holds a $4.31 billion position, followed by Berkshire Hathaway and Charles Akre’s Akre Capital Management with stakes valued at $2.0 billion and $1.05 billion, respectively.

1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

In Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), there were 234 funds holding $42.11 billion worth of stock at the end of September, up from 222 funds and $38.73 billion a quarter earlier. This makes Microsoft the second most popular stock among the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, trailing only Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), which saw 245 funds with long positions. Moreover, Microsoft has most investors with positions worth over $1.0 billion among all stocks in this list. Among these funds, Fisher Asset Management disclosed a $4.70 billion position, followed by Arrowstreet Capital, Eagle Capital Management, and Tiger Global Management.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s shares have appreciated by 39% since the beginning of the year on the back of solid results delivered by the tech behemoth. The pandemic has had a positive impact on the company’s cloud segment, as remote workers and companies required more cloud-based services to operate. The lockdowns provided a tailwind for Microsoft’s gaming and consumer businesses as well. For the fiscal first quarter (ended September), Microsoft posted revenue growth of 12% on the year to $31.7 billion and EPS of $1.82, which topped expectations by $0.28.

Please also see How Billionaire Leon Cooperman Is Preparing for Massive Inflation and 10 Best Stocks To Buy For 2021.

Disclosure: None.