Jim Cramer and Billionaires Love These Large-Cap Stocks

Jim Cramer is a former hedge fund manager and one of the famous TV personalities regularly appearing on CNBC’s “Mad Money” stock show. Jim Cramer, unlike many other TV finance personalities, actually manages a stock portfolio known as “Action Alerts PLUS (AAP)”. This portfolio was started with around $3 million in 2001 and is available for subscription through TheStreet.com.  A recent Wharton School paper analyzed the performance of the AAP portfolio and found that since inception Jim Cramer’s portfolio has under performed the S&P 500 total return index and a basket of S&P 500 stocks that does not reinvest dividends. In the article below, we look at some of the top picks of the Action Alerts PLUS (AAP), which are also popular amongst other top billionaire hedge fund managers.

We follow over 700 hedge funds and other institutional investors and by analyzing their quarterly 13F filings, we identify stocks that they are collectively bullish on and develop investment strategies based on this data. One strategy that outperformed the market over the last year involves selecting the 100 best-performing funds and identifying the 30 mid-cap stocks that they are collectively the most bullish on. Over the past year, this strategy generated returns of 18%, topping the 8% gain registered by S&P 500 ETFs.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is the world’s second most valuable technology company with a dominant share in mobile operating systems and Internet search segments. It is also a favorite of Jim Cramer being a part of his AAP portfolio. Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management also held 1.0 million shares with a value of $812 million and bought an additional 14,723 shares during the third quarter. Billionaire Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global also bought 168,202 shares taking his total position to 1.96 million shares worth $1.57 billion at the end of September. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) recently launched its Waymo unit, which will spearhead the company’s self-driving car project. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) will focus only on the technology of autonomous vehicles and not manufacture the cars itself. According to our database, the number of other billionaires long on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) moved up to 18 from 13 during the third quarter and the value of their holdings also increased by 59% to $6.39 billion.

Social media giant Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is another top stock holding of Jim Cramer. It is also a favorite stock of top billionaire hedge fund managers who are bullish on the company’s vice like grip over the rapidly growing global social media market. Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global sold 1.39 million shares of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) during the third quarter but still held 18.74 million shares worth $2.4 billion at the end of Septembr. Billionaire Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital also reduced its stake by 4.69 million shares to 6.24 million shares worth $801 million. The company is making major efforts to weed out fake news sources from its website. Despite its recent troubles, Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) has been one of the best large technology stocks gaining over 17% over the last year. The number of billionaires from our system owning Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) at the end of the third quarter increased by three to 23.

Action Alerts Plus portfolio has another major technology giant, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), among its holdings. Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway holds a large position in the company, having disclosed ownership of 15.22 million shares worth $1.72 billion as of the end of the third quarter. Billionaire Ken Fisher’s fund also bought 57,369 shares and held 11.37 million shares valued at $1.28 billion. Quant fund D.E Shaw bought 4.2 million new shares increasing its holding to 6.68 million shares worth $755 million. Out of the 45 analysts covering the stock, 30 analysts have rated Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as a ‘Buy’, while only two analysts have a ‘Sell’ rating. At the end of September, 20 billionaires from our database held shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) worth $7.26 billion up by 51% over the quarter.

The world’s biggest networking and router supplier Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) found Jim Cramer’s favor because Cisco Systems, Inc.(NASDAQ:CSCO) has plenty of cash stashed away overseas ($60 billion to be exact). Jim Cramer thinks that if USA corporations are able to repatriate their overseas holdings at a lower tax rate, it could be a boon for Cisco. With that cash, the company would be able to snap up smaller, faster-growing companies, boost its dividend and buy back more stock which would surely benefit the stock.  Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management bought an additional 11,510 shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) holding 15.5 million shares worth $492 million at the end of the quarter. While the number of billionaires that we track owning Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) remained constant at 9 at the end of September, the value of their total holdings increased to $1.54 billion from $1.36 billion quarter over quarter.

Jim Cramer is cautiously optimistic on Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) because he thinks that the company  has a robust pipeline, ambitious growth targets in China  and is improving it through-put. While he thinks that there are challenges regarding wage pressure and domestic same-store-sales growth, he is of the opinion that the company can deliver on its initiatives. Top hedge fund manager and billionaire Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management bought 92,600 shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) between July and September, having increased its holding to 803,600 shares worth $43 million. D.E Shaw & Co also held 42,409 shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) and 711,400 shares underlying call options heading into the fourth quarter. According to our database, eight billionaires held shares of  Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) worth $299 million in aggregate at the end of the third quarter, versus five billionaires owning $252 million worth of stock a quarter earlier.

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