Beech Hill Advisors’ Top Stock Picks for Q3; Apple Inc. (AAPL) Leads the Pack

Beech Hill Advisors LP is a hedge fund firm under the umbrella of privately-owned boutique investment advisory firm Beech Hill Advisors, led by its current President and CEO Paul Cantor. Mr. Cantor, an investment manager and portfolio strategist since 1968, is directing a team of experienced advisors and portfolio managers at the firm.

As stated in its letter to clients for the first quarter of 2016, the asset manager continues to “favor larger cash balances in accounts as a hedge against market turbulence.” Beech Hill Advisors favors higher-yielding, larger-cap companies that have healthy balance sheets and high free cash flow generation. More importantly, the New York-based investment firm’s focus remains in favor of “information technology, healthcare, and the consumer discretionary groups for consistent growth and attractive valuations.” That said, the following article will discuss the asset manager’s top equity positions as of the end of the second quarter.

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#5. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

 – Shares Owned by Beech Hill Advisors LP (as of June 30): 165,802

 – Value of Beech Hill Advisors LP’s Holding (as of June 30): $5.84 Million

Beech Hill Advisors LP owns 165,802 shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) as of the end of the second quarter, a mere 83 shares more than it did at the end of the first quarter. The updated stake was worth $5.84 million at the end of June and accounted for approximately 4.0% of the firm’s equity portfolio. The U.S pharma giant needs to design a strategy to inject new growth after its $160 billion merger with Botox maker Allergan plc (NYSE:AGN) was blocked by freshly-imposed inversion-curbing rules from the Treasury Department. After all, the company’s net sales have been declining each year since 2011. In late June, Pfizer announced plans to invest $350 million in a biotechnology drugs plant in China, increasing its presence in the world’s second-largest pharmaceutical market. The company’s biotech center, built with the purpose of speeding up approvals for its products in China, is anticipated to be completed by 2018. Pfizer shares are up by 13% thus far in 2016. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management owns 31.72 million shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) as of June 30.

#4. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

 – Shares Owned by Beech Hill Advisors LP (as of June 30): 143,799

 – Value of Beech Hill Advisors LP’s Holding (as of June 30): $6.21 Million

The New York-based hedge fund trimmed its position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 3% during the June quarter to 143,799 shares. The reshuffled position was valued at $6.21 million on June 30 and made up 4.2% of its equity portfolio. The second-largest cell phone provider and the largest pay-TV provider in the U.S has seen the value of its stock gain 24% since the start of the year. Just recently, analysts at Barclays raised their price target on AT&T to $45 from $42 and maintained their ‘Overweight’ rating on the stock. Barclays believes valuation concerns limit the upside potential for the company’s stock, as AT&T shares are currently trading near multi-year highs. However, Barclays’ analysts anticipate the telecommunications company to start working on possible earnings revisions, making the stock a “relative preferred play” in the U.S telecom services industry. Ray Carroll’s Breton Hill Capital upped its stake in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) by 56% during the second quarter to 21,645 shares.

The second page of this article will disclose the three-largest holdings in Beech Hill Advisors LP’s portfolio.