In this article, we discuss the 5 best stocks to buy today. If you want to read our detailed analysis of these companies, go directly to the 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today.
5. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 87
Bank of America is a very famous stock among the smart money. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) is also a good investment for income investors as the North Carolina-based company increased its quarterly dividend payout by 17% to $0.21 from $0.18 in September 2021. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) offers a dividend yield of 1.76%.
Shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) climbed 2.5% on October 14 following the announcement of its Q3 earnings. The company’s revenue in the third quarter grew 12% year over year to $22.8 billion. On October 15, Evercore ISI analyst Glen Schorr raised his price target for the bank stock to $48 from $43 with an Outperform rating.
4. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 88
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), an American pharmaceutical company that ranks fourth on the list of 10 best stocks to buy today, is one of the most reliable dividend payers among income investors. The New Jersey-based drug manufacturer has a forward annual dividend yield of 2.59% and pays an annual dividend of $4.24 per share.
Aside from dividends, investors and market analysts are keeping a close eye on Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) pipeline development, which has increased from 30 programs in late-stage development or awaiting approval in July 2020 to 58 drug developments as of October 19, 2021.
The FDA authorized Johnson & Johnson’s booster shot on October 20, which can be given two months after a person receives their first dose of the JNJ vaccination. Following this, investment bank Raymond James maintained an Outperform rating on Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) with a price target of $178.
3. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 138
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) became the first company in the world to reach a $2 trillion market capitalization last year. As Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) continues to draw in customers with their innovative technologies in developing 5G handsets, laptops, accessories, and wearables, market experts remain bullish on the iPhone maker’s stock. Shares of the California-based tech company climbed 23% in the past twelve months.
On October 19, DA Davison analyst Tom Forte maintained a Buy rating on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and increased his price target for the stock to $175 from $167.
2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 238
Ranking second on the list of 10 best stocks to buy today is Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which is now worth $2.3 trillion. According to Gartner data, the software giant’s operating system, Windows, had an 83% market share for desktop computers in 2020, as reported by CNBC. The Washington-based company diversified its tech business into three segments: business processes, intelligent cloud, and more personal computing which grew 25%, 30%, and 9%, respectively, in year-over-year revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021.
On October 20, Wedbush maintained an Outperform rating on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and increased its price target for the stock to $375 from $350.
1. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 271
Online retail giant Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) tops our list of the 10 best stocks to buy today. Amazon remains the most popular stock among the elite funds we track. Of the 873 elite funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 271 were long Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) at the end of June, up from 243 in the first quarter of 2021. Fisher Asset Management is the biggest stakeholder of the company, owning 1.87 million shares worth $6.45 billion. The diversified tech company’s stock price has surged by 1,320% in the last decade.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has made a name for itself in the e-commerce industry over the years. Now, Jeff Bezos’ brainchild is one of the leading cloud computing service providers and has a global market share of 32%. The company’s revenue in the cloud computing segment through Amazon Web Services grew 39% year over year to $16.1 billion in the third quarter of 2021. Overall, the tech giant’s revenue in the quarter came in at $110.81 billion.
Even with missed revenue, Truist analyst Youssef Squali remains bullish on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), keeping a Buy rating on the shares. According to the analyst, the cloud computing giant sustained growth across AWS, advertising, and third-party sales. Squali raised his price target for the stock to $4,000 from $3,800.
You can also take a peek at The Best Stock To Buy For The Next 10 Years and Why These 10 Stocks Moved This Week.
