Billionaire Investors Are Bullish on These Five Stocks

#4 EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC)

– Billionaires with long positions (as of March 31): 19

– Aggregate value of billionaires’ holdings (as of March 31): $4.72 billion

With investors becoming more confident about the completion of its merger with Dell Inc., EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) saw a marked increase in its popularity among billionaire investors during the first quarter. During that period, the number of billionaire investors long EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) rose by two and the aggregate value of their holdings in it increased by almost $1.6 billion. EMC Corporation’s stock has appreciated by around 8% so far in 2016 and is currently trading close to Dell’s offer price. On May 2, Dell Inc. and EMC Corporation jointly announced that the new combined entity created post their merger will be called Dell Technologies. The companies expect the merger to get completed by October this year. Billionaire Seth Klarman‘s Baupost Group increased its stake in EMC Corporation by 78% to 51.85 million shares during the first quarter and became the largest shareholder of the company among the funds tracked by us as of the end of March.

#3 Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

– Billionaires with long positions (as of March 31): 19

– Aggregate value of billionaires’ holdings (as of March 31): $5.52 billion

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)

– Billionaires with long positions (as of March 31): 19

– Aggregate value of billionaires’ holdings (as of March 31): $6.06 billion

Both class A and class C stocks of Alphabet saw their ownership among billionaire investors covered by us increasing by one fund during the first quarter. However, the aggregate value of billionaires’ class A  stock holdings and class C  stock holdings in the company increased by a different magnitude during that period. While in Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) it rose by 7.46%, in Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) it inched up by only 3.87%. On May 24, the search giant reported that tax authorities in France have raided its office in Paris due to an ongoing tax probe against it. According to estimates by the French Finance Ministry, Alphabet owes the country $1.6 billion in back taxes. However, it won’t be easy for the French government to prosecute the company since the data seized by tax authorities in the recent raid can take months to analyze, according to French financial prosecutor, Eliane Houlette. Billionaire Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management increased its stake in Alphabet by 26% to 1.73 million shares during the first quarter.

#2 Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)

– Billionaires with long positions (as of March 31): 20

– Aggregate value of billionaires’ holdings (as of March 31): $6.60 billion

Moving on, the number of billionaire investors covered by us long Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) declined by one during the first quarter, but the aggregate value of the remaining 20 billionaires’ holdings in the company jumped by 83.5% during the same time. Shares of the social media giant have continued their rally this year, rising almost 12% so far. However, they are currently facing stiff resistance near the $120 mark. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) recently started showing ads to non-users on third-party websites and apps, which most analysts see as a step towards challenging Alphabet Inc’s dominance in the Internet advertising space. On May 31, analysts at SunTrust reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating and $135 price target on the stock. Having initiated its stake in the first quarter itself by purchasing 20.13 million shares of the company, Billionaire Andreas Halvorsen‘s Viking Global was the largest shareholder of Facebook Inc among funds tracked by us at the end of that period.

#1 Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN)

– Billionaires with long positions (as of March 31) : 28

– Aggregate value of billionaires’ holdings (as of March 31): $9.11 billion

Finally, despite its ownership among billionaire investors covered by us declining by one and the aggregate value of their holdings slumping by $424 million during the first quarter, Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN) continued to remain the favorite stock of billionaire investors at the end of March. Though Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN)’s stock already lost over 14% of its value in the first quarter, it has declined even further since the company along with Pfizer called off their merger in April. So far, Allergan plc has lost 23% of its market capitalization this year. On May 10, the company reported its fiscal 2016 first quarter earnings, declaring EPS of $3.04 on revenue of $3.80 billion versus analysts’ expectation of EPS of $3.03 on revenue of $3.97 billion. Billionaire Dan Loeb‘s Third Point was among the funds that reduced their stakes in Allergan plc heading into the second quarter, by 8% to 5 million shares.

Disclosure: None5