In this article, we will be taking a look at the 5 Blue Chip Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Steve Cohen. To read our analysis of Steve Cohen’s profile, and investment strategy, as well as the risk/reward and methodology of this list, you can go to the 10 Blue Chip Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Steve Cohen.
5. Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)
Point72 Asset Management’s Stake Value: $137,485,000
Percentage of Point72 Asset Management’s 13F Portfolio: 0.58%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 40
Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) is a leading global restaurant company operating or franchising a network of more than 53,000 restaurants in 155 countries and territories under the brand names of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and the Habit Burger Grill.
Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management owns 1,211,214 shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM), accounting for 0.58% of its 13F portfolio. The hedge fund increased its stake by 82% in Q2 2022, as compared to the previous quarter.
Earlier this year in August, Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) released its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2022. Its total revenue increased by 2% y-o-y to $1.6 billion, while its net income declined by 43% y-o-y to $422 million, for the three months. The normalized EPS was recorded at $1.05 for the quarter, missing the consensus by $0.04, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share.
In September, Bernstein analyst Danilo Gargiulo initiated coverage of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) with an ‘Outperform’ rating and $144 price target.
As of Q2 2022, 40 of the 895 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM), holding shares worth $1.8 billion.
4. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Point72 Asset Management’s Stake Value: $139,432,000
Percentage of Point72 Asset Management’s 13F Portfolio: 0.58%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 252
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), is a multinational technology company operating online and physical stores where it sells its own products as well as allows third-party sellers to sell their products to consumers. It manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle, Fire tablet, Fire TV, Echo, and Ring, and develops and produces media content; and provides cloud computing services through Amazon Web Services platform. Its ecommerce platform is home to more than 1.7 million small and medium businesses.
Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management’s holds 1,312,791 shares of Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), accounting for 0.58% of its 13F portfolio, as of Q2 2022. The hedge fund increased its stake by 1,401% during the latest quarter, as compared to the previous one. As a result, the ecommerce giant ranks #4 on the list of 10 Blue Chip Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Steve Cohen.
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) is also highly sought after by hedge funds with the second highest number of hedge funds as 252 out of the 895 tracked by Insider Monkey hold its shares with a total value of $30.1 billion.
Oakmark Funds, an investment management firm, mentioned Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) in its second quarter of 2022 investor letter. Here’s what they said:
“Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is the leading e-commerce and cloud-computing provider in the world. Two-thirds of U.S. households are Amazon Prime subscribers, and over half of all online product searches now start on Amazon. We believe the company’s strong customer loyalty and massive infrastructure are significant barriers to entry in a growing e-commerce market. Separately, Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) controls nearly half of the market in cloud computing. We believe AWS has become utility-like in nature and scale and we expect healthy growth moving forward as IT workloads continue moving to the cloud. More recently, concerns about rising investment spending have weighed on the stock-as they have in times past-providing us another opportunity to purchase shares at a very attractive price. At our purchase price and valuing AWS like its peers, an investor isn’t paying much of anything for the immensely valuable e-commerce franchise.”
3. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)
Point72 Asset Management’s Stake Value: $143,363,000
Percentage of Point72 Asset Management’s 13F Portfolio: 0.60%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is a leading global beverage company with a history dating back to 1886. Its portfolio of brands, sold in more than 200 countries and territories, includes Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta and other sparkling soft drinks, hydration, sports, coffee and tea brands, and other beverages.
As of Q2 2022, Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management holds 2,278,860 shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), accounting for 0.60% of the hedge fund’s 13F portfolio. The hedge fund increased its stake by 7% in Q2 2022, as compared to the previous quarter.
In July, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) released the financial results for the quarter ended July 1, 2022. Its net revenue increased by 12% y-o-y to $11.3 billion, while its net income shrunk by 28% y-o-y to $1.9 billion, for the three months. It reported a normalized EPS of $0.70 for the quarter, narrowly beating the consensus by $0.03, and declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share.
In September, HSBC analyst Carlos Laboy raised the price target on The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shares to $76 from $72 and maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares.
As of Q2 2022, 60 of the 895 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shares, valued at a combined total of $28.4 billion.
2. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Point72 Asset Management’s Stake Value: $164,619,000
Percentage of Point72 Asset Management’s 13F Portfolio: 0.69%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 184
Menlo Park, California-based Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is a technology conglomerate focused on building products and services that help people connect and communicate. Formerly known as Facebook, Inc., the tech conglomerate reports its business under two segments: Family of Apps – comprising social media web and smartphone apps Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp; and Reality Labs – comprising augmented and virtual reality products including hardware, software, and content.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) mainly generates revenue through advertising services on its platforms which boast a combined total of 3.65 billion monthly active users as of June 30, 2022.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is ranked #2 on the list of 10 Blue Chip Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Steve Cohen based on its portfolio weight of 0.69%, among other aspects, as of Q2 2022. The hedge fund holds 1,020,893 shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), 146% more than the number of shares held at the end of the previous quarter.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is among hedge funds’ favorites as 184 of the 895 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey hold its shares valued at a combined total of $18.2 billion.
Here is what Alger Capital specifically said about Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META):
“Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) operates Facebook, the world’s largest social network. The digital advertising industry is taking market share of advertising dollars from print, radio, and tv media. However, concerns about brand risk, or having advertisements appear alongside of controversial content, caused brands and agencies to move budgets away from meta, resulting in disappointing revenue. Diminished ad tracking capability relative to consumer opt-out also weighed upon sentiment for meta shares. Meta’s share performance responded favorably, however, to first quarter results that that while not strong fundamentally, were positive against extremely low expectations among some investors. The positive contribution to portfolio performance was due to a sequential quarterly increase in customer utilization and management lowering its expense guidance $3 billion in order to protect earnings. In a market environment that is rewarding companies with relatively high current earnings, we believe Meta’s spending discipline resonated with investors.”
1. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)
Point72 Asset Management’s Stake Value: $273,025,000
Percentage of Point72 Asset Management’s 13F Portfolio: 1.15%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 166
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a leading digital payments company facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. It had more than 3.8 billion cards in issuance, as of December 31, 2021.
Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management owns 1,386,686 shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), accounting for 1.15% of its 13F portfolio. The hedge fund increased its stake by 50% in Q2 2022, as compared to the previous quarter.
In July, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) released its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2022. Its net revenues increased by 19% y-o-y to $7.3 billion, while its net income increased by 32% y-o-y to $3.4 billion, for the three months. It reported a normalized EPS of $1.98 for the quarter, beating the consensus by $0.23. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.375 per share.
As of Q2 2022, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is among the favorites of hedge funds, with 166 of the 895 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey holding its shares valued at $24.1 billion. TCI Fund Management was the largest shareholder owning 19.9 million shares valued at $3.9 billion.
You can also read 10 Best-Performing S&P 500 Stocks in the Last 10 Years and Top 10 Stock Picks of Henrik Rhenman’s Rhenman Partners
