The services industry builds the foundation upon which modern economies stand, offering valuable support and convenience to its clientele. The success of the industry depends upon favorable store locations, efficient operations, and ensuring high-quality customer service. A majority of large-scale companies in this industry work through a national and international network of stores, while the internet revolution has also introduced several e-commerce players and online service companies over the past two decades, which have revolutionized the industry. At Insider Monkey, we track more than 700 hedge funds and their stock holdings. Our analysts process this data to identify the top stock choices for every single industry. What makes this data critical is the fact that investment managers spend millions of dollars on research and employ large teams to identify favorable investment opportunities, so our data effectively collates the wealth of all of this knowledge. As per our analysis of the 13F filings for the reporting period of March 31, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Liberty Global plc (NASDAQ:LBTYK), McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), and Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) are the top five choices of the investment managers that we track when it comes to stocks in the consumer services sector.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is the most popular stock choice in the consumer services sector. Out of 730 funds that we track, 96 fund managers have positions in the online retailer with aggregate investments of $8.40 billion. The e-commerce company has gained a good deal of popularity in comparison to three months earlier, when just 76 firms had investments in it totaling $5.91 billion. According to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is all set to enter the artisan goods industry. The online retailer is sending email invites to sellers, informing them about the newest section of its e-commerce site: “Handmade.” This could be bad news for Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY), whose shares have already fallen by 44% since its IPO in April. Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management and Eagle Capital Management are among the investment managers holding large positions in Amazon.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) comes in at number two on the list of the most popular stock choices in the consumer services industry. 91 investment managers have positions in the company, with their net investment amounting to $7.16 billion. Those figures are down slightly from the $7.54 billion held by 94 fund managers three months prior. The internet service provider announced its latest multi-gigabit broadband service last week, which is likely to roll-out this summer. Gigabit Pro will be available within the existing network of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in Washington and it will offer 2 Gigabit-per-second service to customers there. In addition to the high-speed Gigabit service, the cable network company is offering an Extreme 250 plan, a 250 Mbps internet speed tier to its customers in Washington. Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) made a failed attempt to acquire its smaller rival Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) for $45 billion, with the deal falling apart primarily because of regulatory concerns. First Eagle Investment Management and Lansdowne Partners are among the primary investors of Comcast Corporation.
Liberty Global plc (NASDAQ:LBTYK) is another top choice of hedge funds in the consumer services sector, with 90 firms in our database having a position in the company as of March 31, with an aggregate of $10.14 billion invested. The international telecommunications company is another stock in this sector which declined in popularity slightly during the first quarter, from 94 firms having $10.16 billion invested as of the end of 2014. The Class C shares of Liberty Global plc (NASDAQ:LBTYK) have grown 9% year-to-date to trade at $53.06 per share. Liberty Global reported net revenue of $4.52 billion for the first quarter of 2015 with a net loss of $537 million attributable to the shareholders of the company. Boykin Curry‘s Eagle Capital Management is the top shareholder of the company’s Class C shares with 32.72 million of them.
