In this article, we discuss 5 best Fortune 500 stocks to buy now. If you want our detailed analysis of these stocks, go directly to 10 Best Fortune 500 Stocks to Buy Now.
5. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 101
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is a New York-based investment bank and multinational financial services corporation that is a top ranked Fortune 500 company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) recently joined Trumid’s fixed income platform, which will allow the company to directly offer liquidity to its institutional client base. Trumid is an up and coming financial institution offering a digital credit trading network.
UBS analyst Erika Najarian on December 19 initiated coverage of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) with a Buy rating and a $210 price target. According to the analyst, the stock’s “rare” year-to-date price underperformance relative to peers presents investors with a “compelling opportunity”, and believes that concerns over capital constraints affecting JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)’s best-in-class revenue power are “overblown.”
Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management is one of the largest JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) stakeholders from the third quarter, with almost 3 million shares worth $489.8 million. Overall, 101 hedge funds were long JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) in Q3, down from 108 funds in the prior quarter.
Vltava Fund mentioned JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) in its Q3 2021 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“While all the previous names could be categorized as founder, continuing, or key shareholders, these last two names fall into the category of hired professional managers. This is actually the most numerous category among the bosses of large companies, but even among them there exist a number of individuals with exceptional long-term track records. In our view, these include also Jamie Dimon and Herman Gref.
We consider JP Morgan to be the strongest, largest, and most profitable bank in the world. It has not always been so, and the fact that it is what it is today can be attributed especially to its CEO Jamie Dimon. Dimon has spent his entire career in banking. He came to JP Morgan in a roundabout way in 2004 after the bank bought Bank One, of which he was CEO at the time. Since early 2006, Dimon has been CEO of the entire JP Morgan.
The quality and strength of JP Morgan under his leadership became fully apparent for the first time in 2008. Not only did JP Morgan help to stabilise the market by taking over the failing Bear Stearns in the spring of that year, but it was the only major US bank that did not require government assistance throughout the Great Financial Crisis and that was highly profitable even in the difficult year of 2008. Today, JP Morgan is even bigger, even more profitable, and even stronger than ever before. Many investors view banks with disdain, but a good bank with good management can be a very good long-term investment. From the time of its merger with Bank One in 2004 through the end of 2020, JP Morgan’s stock has outperformed even the S&P 500 index. The bank has earned a total net profit of USD 330 billion during this period, of which USD 232 billion has been paid out to shareholders in dividends and in share buybacks. I can recommend two books about Jamie Dimon: The House of Dimon and Last Man Standing.”
4. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 120
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the Big Five US tech giants that is well on its way to reach a $3 trillion valuation, making it one of the best Fortune 500 stocks to buy now. To fend off competitors stealing away its top talent, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) recently gave 10% to 20% of its engineering professionals stock bonuses of up to $180,000.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s move away from Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) in 2020 raised questions about the company’s ability to power its MacBooks and iMacs, but the launch of the Apple M1 chip in 2020 was thoroughly successful, allowing longer battery life and a fanless design that made the machines quieter. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Q2 Mac revenue increased 70.1% due to the M1 chip.
Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty on December 22 observed that major end markets like China are posting high iPhone shipment growth, and she believes that iPhone production is “surprising to the upside.” She kept an Overweight rating and a $200 price target on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares.
Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Berkshire Hathaway is the biggest Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stakeholder, with a $125.5 billion position in the company during the third quarter. Overall, 120 hedge funds held stakes in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in Q3 2021, down from 138 funds in the prior quarter.
Here is what ClearBridge Investments has to say about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q1 2021 investor letter:
“As we actively manage holdings and position sizes, we look to regularly recycle capital into more compelling opportunities. Maintaining our valuation discipline, we sharply reduced our position in Apple, whose shares more than doubled following our initial purchase in mid-2019 with an earnings multiple rising from the low-to-mid teens to nearly 30x.”
3. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 156
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), a US multinational tech conglomerate that is the parent company of Google and Google subsidiaries, surged approximately 67% in 2021, and helped collectively add more than $2.45 trillion in market valuation, in addition to the other Big Five US tech firms.
Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth on December 3 raised the price target on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) to $3,540 from $3,185 and reiterated a Strong Buy rating on the shares, citing the company’s increasing artificial intelligence-first focus improving product functionality and “significant” growth opportunities.
TCI Fund Management, an approximately $42 billion value-based hedge fund managed by British billionaire Chris Hohn, is the largest Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) stakeholder as of Q3 2021, holding 2.95 million shares of the company, worth $7.86 billion. Overall, 156 funds were bullish on the stock in the third quarter.
Here is what Saturna Capital Amana Funds has to say about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q3 2021 investor letter:
“Alphabet was a new addition to the Fund this year, as we believed it important to have exposure to the top online media and advertising company in the world. Some have raised concerns surrounding Alphabet’s exposure to political interference, but we take comfort from the belief that were the company to be broken up, it would quite likely be worth even more than as a single entity.”
2. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 242
Jeff Bezos’ Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is an American ecommerce, artificial intelligence, and cloud services provider that has had major economic influence globally. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is one of the top legacy tech picks for 2022 at Baird, in addition to Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB).
Monness Crespi analyst Brian White noted that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s AWS now has 84 availability zones across 26 geographic regions and offers over 200 fully featured services to millions of customers, which means “the company’s fortunes are poised to change in 2022.” The analyst kept a Buy rating and a $4,500 price target on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares on December 27.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is one of the most popular stocks among the smart money, with 242 hedge funds in Q3 holding stakes worth $42.5 billion in the company. One of the leading Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) stakeholders is Tiger Global Management, with the fund owning a $1.86 billion position in the tech giant.
Here is what Davis Opportunity Fund has to say about Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its Q3 2021 investor letter:
“E-commerce, online search and advertising, social media and software are another component of the portfolio that have proven, attractive businesses. The online portion of the Fund is currently dominated by such market leaders as Amazon.com. We are attracted to these names based on the size and rapid expansion of their market opportunities globally, their ability to generate and grow new revenue sources through constant innovation, ample operating leverage as they continue to scale and capable, focused, highly competitive leadership teams. If purchased at sensible prices, these types of businesses in our experience can contribute meaningfully to long-term results.”
1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 250
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the most popular Fortune 500 stocks to buy now, with 250 hedge funds in the third quarter database of Insider Monkey holding stakes in the tech corporation, amounting to $65.8 billion. Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is the leading Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shareholder as of September 2021, with its stake in the company exceeding $7 billion.
SMBC Nikko analyst Steve Koenig on December 21 initiated coverage of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) with an Outperform rating and a $410 price target, which represents about 28% upside from current levels. The analyst observed that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is successfully transitioning its customers to the cloud and is “well positioned at the center of the big secular trends in software”.
Here is what Baron Opportunity Fund has to say about Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q3 2021 investor letter:
“Shares of Microsoft Corporation, a cloud-software leader and provider of software productivity tools and infrastructure, rose during the quarter following a strong earnings report highlighting solid demand for its broad product stack and continued momentum migrating its business to the cloud. Microsoft’s results continued to be strong across the board, with total revenue beating Street estimates by 4.5%, an acceleration in Commercial Cloud revenue to 31% constant-currency growth, a four-point improvement in Commercial Cloud gross margins (to 70% from 66%), and GAAP earnings up 42%. We believe the company is positioned to deliver 13% to 15% organic growth over the next three years, underpinned by TAM expansion across its disruptive cloud product portfolio, as more companies look to transform and digitize their businesses, as well as strong operating leverage as its cloud products gain scale.”
You can also take a look at 10 Best Tech Stocks to Buy Under $10 and 10 Best Growth Stocks for 2022.
