In this article, we discuss the top 5 stock picks in Cliff Asness’ Portfolio. If you want to see our detailed analysis of Asness’ history, investment philosophy, and hedge fund performance, go directly to Cliff Asness Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks.
5. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
AQR Capital Management’ Stake Value: $921.7 million
Percentage of AQR Capital Management’s 13F Portfolio: 1.59%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 155
As of the end of the June quarter, 155 hedge funds out of the 873 tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). According to the recent 13F Filings, AQR Capital Management holds 378,509 shares in the company. These shares are worth more than $921.7 million and account for 1.59%% of the fund’s total investment portfolio.
In its Q2 2021 investor letter, Mawer Investment Management named Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) among the companies that reported strong results. Here is what the fund said:
“Many higher growth companies reported strong results amid the pick-up in broad economic activity including Alphabet. These higher growth companies tend to have increased sensitivity to a change in discount rates and were supported as long-term interest rates stabilized over the period.”
4. Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB)
AQR Capital Management’ Stake Value: $1 billion
Percentage of AQR Capital Management’s 13F Portfolio: 1.73%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 266
As of the end of the second quarter, 266 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning stakes in Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB). The total worth of these stakes is $42.34 billion. This shows the hedge fund sentiment is positive for the social media company as 257 funds had stakes in the company in the previous quarter, with a total worth of $40.96 billion.
As of Q2 2021, Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management holds over 2.88 million shares of Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), amounting to more than $1 billion in worth and representing 1.73% of the fund’s total portfolio value.
On September 30, RBC Capital analyst Brad Erickson initiated coverage of Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) with an Outperform rating alongside a $425 price target on the company’s shares.
First Eagle Investment Management, an investment management firm, In its Q2 2021 investor letter stated that Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) was among the leading contributors in the fund’s portfolio for the quarter. Here is what the fund said:
“Leading contributors in the First Eagle Global Fund this quarter included Facebook, Inc. Class A. Facebook has continued to post impressive results for both revenue and active users of its traditional platforms. In the meantime, the social media giant continues to make progress on new initiatives—like Facebook Horizon (virtual reality) and Facebook Shops (e-commerce)—and maintains attractive monetization optionality around services like Messenger and WhatsApp.”
3. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
AQR Capital Management’ Stake Value: $1.2 billion
Percentage of AQR Capital Management’s 13F Portfolio: 2.06%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 271
There were 271 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey that held stakes in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) worth $60.49 billion in the second quarter of 2021, compared to 243 funds in the first quarter with total stakes amounting to approximately $50.4 billion. Cliff Asness’ hedge fund held 347,736 shares in the company by the end of the quarter. These shares are valued at $1.19 billion and account for 2.06% of his fund’s total investment portfolio.
On October 21, Baird analyst Colin Sebastian maintained an Outperform rating, alongside a $4,000 price target on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares.
Madison Funds, in its Q3 2021 investor letter, mentioned Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Here is what the fund had to say:
“We did add a modest new position weight to the portfolio in the quarter in Amazon.com, Inc. stock (AMZN). We acknowledge that many aspects of Amazon’s merit as an investment are well appreciated. However, our work leads us to conclude that shares are attractive. Leadership positions in both e-commerce and cloud computing provide the company with significant durable competitive advantages in industries that we think can produce above average growth over the next decade. Over the past year, AMZN shares have trailed the market as investors debate near-term growth prospects following the pandemic-induced e-commerce demand. Additionally, margins have been depressed due to Amazon’s unprecedented increases in spending to build out fulfillment and in-house logistics capabilities – Amazon will build out more square footage this year and last than it did cumulatively over the previous 10 years, more than doubling its in-house delivery capacity. We like the investments Amazon is making and believe they will further advantage the company relative to other retailers, making it nearly impossible for competitors to match the same level of delivery speed and convenience. With its large and frequently engaged customer base, Amazon has multiple mechanisms to make money, including selling advertising and enhanced subscription services. Within the cloud business, we forecast Amazon Web Services (AWS) leveraging its strengths in Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) to move into higher value segments of cloud computing (such as platform-as-a-service: PaaS), allowing the company to continue outgrowing the overall IT sector with strong profitability. While Amazon shares have performed extremely well over the long-term, we think near-term concerns about whether Amazon will earn a return on its accelerated investments provide an opportunity now for investors willing to look through the investment period. Our view is that the investments likely earn strong returns and extend Amazon’s competitive advantages and aboveaverage growth.”
2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
AQR Capital Management’ Stake Value: $1.73 billion
Percentage of AQR Capital Management’s 13F Portfolio: 2.99%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 238
On October 20, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives raised his price target on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to $375 from $350, and kept an Outperform rating on the shares of the company.
By the end of the second quarter of 2021, 238 hedge funds out of the 873 tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), worth roughly $62.46 billion, compared to 251 hedge funds in the previous quarter, with stakes worth approximately $58.9 billion.
As of the end of the June quarter, AQR Capital Management reported owning over 6.4 million shares in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), worth more than $1.73 billion and representing 2.99% of the fund’s total portfolio value.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Polen Capital, an investment management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“We have written extensively about Microsoft in recent commentaries. It was our leading contributor last year and one of our largest weightings within the Portfolio. It continues to experience business momentum through several dominant, essential, and competitively advantaged businesses, like Office 365 and Azure. The markets it competes for are enormous, which gives the company the ability to compound at scale. In the past quarter alone, the company generated over $40 billion in revenue, representing a 17% growth rate. The inherent operating leverage in Microsoft’s business model continues and led to 34% earnings growth this past quarter. Despite the broad rotation we saw in the first quarter and Microsoft’s robust performance in 2020, we think its business fundamentals continue to exhibit strength, and the stock continues to reflect the fundamentals.”
1. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
AQR Capital Management’ Stake Value: $1.98 billion
Percentage of AQR Capital Management’s 13F Portfolio: 3.42%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 138
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is placed first on our list of the top 10 stock picks in Cliff Asness’ portfolio. The California-based company operates as a technology firm with a large stake in the consumer electronics business.
By the end of the second quarter of 2021, Cliff Asness held over 14.5 million shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), worth more than $1.98 billion.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Distillate Capital, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“Apple is an even more notable situation and one that highlights our free cash valuation methodology and bears further discussion given its Q3 ‘20 sale from our strategy. For an extended period, Apple was extraordinarily inexpensive on a free cash flow basis and was the largest position in our strategy, exceeding 5% of the portfolio.”
You can also take a peek at Forget Tesla (TSLA): 10 Cheap EV Stocks to Buy Now and 15 Best Consumer Discretionary Stocks to Buy Now.
