Analysts Just Gave Apple Inc. (AAPL), Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC) and Three Other Stocks Massive Price Target Hikes

Many investors and analysts are focused on the Federal Reserve today as the FOMC begins their deliberations on whether to raise interest rates.

In this article, we find out why five companies, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC), Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT), Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB), and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), are also attracting the attention of analysts. We will also use the latest 13F data to see how the smart money traded the five stocks during the second quarter.

Hedge fund sentiment is an important metric for assessing the long-term profitability. At Insider Monkey, we track over 740 hedge funds, whose quarterly 13F filings we analyze and determine their collective sentiment towards several thousand stocks. However, our research has shown that the best strategy is to follow hedge funds into their small-cap picks. This approach can allow monthly returns of nearly 95 basis points above the market, as we determined through extensive backtests covering the period between 1999 and 2012 (see the details here).

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After falling out of favor earlier in the year, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is now firmly back in terms of the analyst limelight after the tech company introduced two new phones, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus to rousing demand. Regarding recent analyst commentary, UBS recently has raised its price target to $127 from $115 and reaffirmed its ‘Buy’ rating on the stock, while analysts at RBC Capital, have inched up their price target to $120 from $117 and maintained their ‘Outperform’ rating. If demand for the new iPhone remains strong and the U.S. allows Apple to bring in overseas profits under a more generous tax schedule next year, Apple shares could have substantial upside left. Some smart money funds cut their stake in Apple in the second quarter. According to our data, 116 funds owned shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at the end of the second quarter, down by 36 funds from the previous quarter.

After its $2 billion purchase of Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX)’s deepwater Gulf of Mexico assets, many analysts thought Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC) got the better end of the deal, and reacted accordingly. Analysts at JPMorgan, for example, raised their price target to $70 per share from $64, noting the immediate accretion from the purchase as well as the higher planned spending in Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC)’s onshore assets. Analysts at Macquarie were even more bullish, hiking their price target to $71 from $61 and maintaining Anadarko as its ‘Top Pick’ in the American E&P sector. Andreas Halvorsen‘s Viking Global raised its position in Anadarko Petroleum by 815% in the second quarter to over 7.8 million shares at the end of June.

On the next page, we examine Lockheed Martin Corporation, Campbell Soup Company, and Intel Corporation.

Although defense doesn’t exactly scream growth, many on Wall Street have high expectations for Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) over the next several years. Count Wells Fargo analyst Sam Pearlstein as one of them, as the analyst sees Lockheed potentially growing its earnings by around 20% a year through 2020. Due to his optimistic growth estimate, Pearlstein raised his price target to $275-$280 from the previous $255-$260. The smart money was also somewhat bullish on the defense stock in the second quarter. According to our data, 39 funds owned shares of Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) at the end of the second quarter, up 2 funds from the previous quarter.

Analysts at Argus have recently bumped up their price target on Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) to $55.38 from $47.77. Despite the price target increase, the analyst hedged a bit and lowered their rating on the stock to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’. Shares of the company have fallen substantially from their highs in early July and trade for around 17.2 times forward earnings estimates. The number of investors from our database with holdings in Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) rose by four quarter-over-quarter to 29 at the end of June.

Seeing as how Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) recently hit a 52-week high and raised its guidance, many analysts are taking note and are hiking their price targets on the semi-conductor giant. Specifically, Canaccord recently raised its price target to $44 from $40, while Nomura hiked its price target to $42 from $38. If PC demand is indeed stronger than expected, Intel’s already safe annual dividend of $1.04 per share will become even more attractive. A total of 57 funds we track were long Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) at the end of June, up by three funds from the previous quarter.

Disclosure: none