In this article, we discuss billionaire Steve Cohen’s top 5 stock picks. For Cohen’s investment philosophy and his comments on certain stocks, please see Billionaire Steve Cohen’s Top 10 Stock Picks.
5. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Value: $229,221,000
Percent of Steve Cohen’s 13F Portfolio: 1.11%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 258
Microsoft ranks 5th on the list of billionaire Steve Cohen’s top 10 stock picks. The fund has a $229.2 million stake in the Redmond software giant. Goldman Sachs recently added MSFT on its conviction list, citing increasing digital spending. The firm set a price target of $315 for the stock. Major hedge funds are bullish on MSFT, including Tiger Cub Lee Ainslie and “Europe’s most feared” investor Chris Hohn.
A total of 258 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish MSFT at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 234 funds a quarter earlier. MSFT ranks 2nd in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds: 2020 Q4 Rankings.
In their Q4 2020 investor letter, Bretton Fund highlighted a few stocks and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“Microsoft’s stock also had a great year, returning 42.4% on increased earnings per share of 30%. The main driver of their growth in recent years is their cloud computing business, and while it did see a bump in demand as office workers went remote, most of the growth is from the continued shift of corporate computing systems to “the cloud.” We think this shift is still in its early stages.”
4. Visa Inc. (NYSE: V)
Value: $281,093,000
Percent of Steve Cohen’s 13F Portfolio: 1.37%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 166
Point72 Asset Management increased its stake in payments company Visa by 241% in the fourth quarter, ending the period with $281 million worth of the company’s stock. Visa shares are up 40% over the last 12 months. In fiscal first quarter, Visa experienced an improved volume and transactions amid growing spending worldwide. Its EPS in the quarter came in at $1.42 , surpassing the consensus of $1.27. Revenue in the period came in at $5.69 billion, versus the Street’s estimate of $5.52 billion. Payments volume jumped 5% on a year-over-year basis.
As of the end of the fourth quarter, there were 166 hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database that held stakes in Visa, compared to 160 funds in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management, with 22.2 million shares of Visa, is the biggest stakeholder in the company. Visa Inc. ranks 5th in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds: 2020 Q4 Rankings.
In their Q4 2020 investor letter, Bretton Fund highlighted a few stocks and Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“While consumers resumed much of their spending by summer, what and how they used their Visas and Mastercards changed. For obvious reasons, people shifted to contactless payments—one of the Covid-era changes we think is permanent—and replaced travel purchases with online shopping and food delivery. Consumers spent more on their debit cards and less on their credit cards; Visa and Mastercard make more per transaction on the latter. They also make more on cross-border transactions that come mostly from international travel, which ground to a halt early in the pandemic. Visa’s and Mastercard’s earnings per share fell by 7% and 16%, respectively, compared to their usual mid-teens growth. We’re not too worried, and we think they’ll catch up nicely in the post-vaccine world. Visa’s stock returned 17.1% and Mastercard’s 20.2%.”
3. Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB)
Value: $309,497,000
Percent of Steve Cohen’s 13F Portfolio: 1.5%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 242
Facebook ranks 3rd on the list of billionaire Steve Cohen’s top 10 stock picks. Despite the controversies like data privacy, Facebook remains a social media behemoth, having an ecosystem of apps such as Instagram and WhatsApp under its ownership. As of the end of the fourth quarter, Facebook has 1.84 billion daily active users and 2.8 billion monthly active users. Facebook shares are up 76% over the last 12 months.
According to our database, the number of FB’s long hedge funds positions increased at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. There were 242 hedge funds that hold a position in Facebook, compared to 230 funds in the third quarter. The biggest stakeholder of the company is SB Management, with 12 million shares, worth $3.3 billion. Facebook ranks 3rd in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds: 2020 Q4 Rankings.
2. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD)
Value: $345,316,000
Percent of Steve Cohen’s 13F Portfolio: 2.72%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 74
AMD ranks 2nd on the list of billionaire Steve Cohen’s top 10 stock picks. Point72 Asset Management increased its stake in the semiconductor company by 185%, ending the period with 3.76 million shares, worth $345 million. AMD is set to launch its next-gen enterprise EPYC processor on March 15, taking on Intel’s Xeon platform. The new processor is based on the Zen 3 architecture, built on 7nm technology.
With a $944 million stake in AMD, Arrowstreet Capital owns 10.3 million shares of the company as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. Our database shows that 74 hedge funds held stakes in AMD as of the end of the fourth quarter, versus 71 funds in the third quarter.
In their Q3 2020 investor letter, Carillon Eagle Mid Cap Growth Fund highlighted a few stocks and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) is one of them. Here is what Carillon Eagle Mid Cap Growth Fund said:
“Advanced Micro Devices produces semiconductor products and devices. The stock outperformed due to healthy growth in the personal computer and data center server markets. The company also continues to gain share against its major competitor, which is having significant issues in its next generation products. Furthermore, investors have appreciated the margins and profitability the company has been posting in addition to the topline strength.”
1. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL)
Value: $623,672,000
Percent of Steve Cohen’s 13F Portfolio: 3.04%
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 179
Alphabet tops the list of billionaire Steve Cohen’s top 10 stock picks. Overall, hedge funds are loading up on Alphabet, as 179 out of 887 funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in the search engine and ads giant, compared to 162 funds a quarter earlier. Chris Hohn’s TCI Fund Management is the biggest stakeholder in the company, with 2.95 million shares, worth $5.2 billion. GOOGL ranks 4th in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds: 2020 Q4 Rankings.
In their Q4 2020 investor letter, Bretton Fund highlighted a few stocks and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is one of them. Here is what the fund stated:
“Google (aka Alphabet) was one of our best performing stocks last year, returning 30.9%, while its earnings per share increased 19%. As lockdowns first went into place in the spring, many advertisers hit pause on their campaigns, waiting—like a lot of us—to see what the world would look like. And then—like a lot of us—advertisers adjusted. Travel companies cut back their campaigns, while ads for other goods, like athleisure wear and video games, picked up the slack. Google had a rough second quarter, but was back in the swing of things by the next quarter.”
You can also take a peek at Billionaire Carl Icahn’s Top 10 Picks and Cathie Wood’s Top 10 Stock Picks.
