This article presents an overview of Jim Cramer’s 5 Latest Stock Picks. For a detailed overview of such stocks, read our article, Jim Cramer’s 11 Latest Stock Picks.
5. CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 64
Jim Cramer recently said in a program that CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) CEO Karen S. Lynch is executing a “turn.” Cramer said it’s a “very big turn” which will take some time and won’t happen “overnight.” Cramer said he talked to CVS Health Corp’s (NYSE:CVS) management at a conference and he is a “believer” when it comes to CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS).
As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 64 out of the 910 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS). The biggest stake in CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) is owned by Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management which owns a $65 million stake in CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS).
In its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter, Vltava Fund stated the following regarding CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS):
“Not every transaction creates value. Some transactions destroy company value. An example of such transaction is CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS)’s acquisition of Oak Street Health in early 2023. This acquisition cost CVS $10.6 billion, and, based on metrics cited by the company itself, it seems to us that it was a waste of money for the most part. Unfortunately, CVS has its own history of overpriced acquisitions. The last one prior to that was in 2018, when CVS bought health insurer Aetna for $69 billion. We had assumed that CVS management, which has since changed, would recognise that mistake and learn from it. We were wrong. The acquisition of Oak Street Health is both disappointing and a warning to us. We now have a company in our portfolio whose capital allocation we consider to be poor and that should not be there. Unfortunately, the situation is complicated by the fact that the CVS stock is now very cheap and therefore we are reluctant to dispose of it just yet. We probably will do so, however, when the opportunity arises.”
4. AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 73
AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) was praised by Cramer because of its drugs, especially in the weight loss space. Cramer said “great call” to the questioner in his program who had AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) in his portfolio based on weight loss-related catalysts. Cramer said AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) is a “very good company” and it has a lot of the “good drugs.”
AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) is a dividend aristocrat, having upped its payouts consistently over the past 25 years. CFRA recently published its dividend aristocrat stocks list. These companies have four-star and five-star ratings. AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) was part of the list.
Carillon Eagle Mid Cap Growth Fund made the following comment about AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) reported strong, broad-based second-quarter performance that exceeded analysts’ expectations. The company’s raised guidance was a nice recovery after its mildly disappointing first-quarter report.”
3. MercadoLibre Inc (NASDAQ:MELI)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 76
Argentina-based ecommerce company MercadoLibre Inc (NASDAQ:MELI) is one of the best stocks to buy according to Jim Cramer. When asked about MercadoLibre Inc (NASDAQ:MELI) recently during his program on CNBC, Jim Cramer said that MercadoLibre Inc (NASDAQ:MELI) is “the stock to own” if you are looking for stocks to buy in Latin American. Cramer said “those people” are “incredibly smart.”
As of the of the of third quarter of 2023, 76 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in MercadoLibre Inc (NASDAQ:MELI). The biggest stakeholder of MercadoLibre Inc (NASDAQ:MELI) during this period was David Blood and Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management which owns a $609 million stake in MercadoLibre Inc (NASDAQ:MELI).
ClearBridge International Growth EAFE Strategy stated the following regarding MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Emerging growth companies Shopify and MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) continue to show improved operational performance. MercadoLibre’s investments in new services continue to drive revenue growth and margin improvement. New loyalty programs, credit services and advertising products, for example, all contributed to good business performance.”
2. Eli Lilly Co (NYSE:LLY)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 102
Jim Cramer has been highly bullish on Eli Lilly Co (NYSE:LLY) over the past several months. Recently, Cramer said Eli Lilly Co (NYSE:LLY) stock’s performance was weak after Eli Lilly Co (NYSE:LLY) posted a strong quarter. Cramer attributed this stock performance to what he called “authentic stupidity.” Cramer said that Eli Lilly Co’s (NYSE:LLY) therapy tirzepatide recently showed promising results against nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Cramer said this could be a potential treatment for 15 million more people in the US alone.
Baron Health Care Fund stated the following regarding Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Stock selection was also positive in the sub-industry owing to strong gains from therapeutics-focused pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY). Lilly’s stock continued to outperform driven by strong sales of blockbuster diabetes medicine Mounjaro and ongoing enthusiasm surrounding the company’s obesity and diabetes franchises, particularly after Novo Nordisk released its SELECT trial results showing a 20% relative risk reduction in overweight patients with cardiovascular disease and no prior history of diabetes.
Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells medicines in the categories of diabetes, oncology, neuroscience, and immunology, among other areas. Stock performance was strong due to strong third quarter sales of blockbuster diabetes medicine Mounjaro and ongoing enthusiasm surrounding the company’s obesity and diabetes franchises. We continue to think Lilly is well positioned to grow revenue and earnings at attractive rates through the end of the decade and beyond.
We own Eli Lilly and Company, which we believe will remain a leader in the GLP-1 medicine class with Mounjaro, Zepbound, and the company’s deep pipeline of next generation GLP-1 medicines.”
1. Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 107
Answering a question about Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) in a latest program, Cramer said Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) is a “great company.” Cramer said the reason why Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd.’s (NYSE:TSM) valuation is low is the geopolitical concerns around China which Cramer believes are “overstated at this moment.”
In October 2023, Cramer had said that he “likes Taiwan Semiconductor very much” and he thought the stock “should be bought.” Cramer, however, said at the time that his only concern was China but he also said it would be “ok.”
Wedgewood Partners stated the following regarding Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) was also a top contributor to performance. The Company began shipping chips that were fabricated using its industry-leading “N3″ node. Nearly all of the Company’s N3 capacity has been filled by high-end chip designers such as Apple, NVIDIA and even Intel. As high-performance computing, particularly related to AI in both data centers and edge devices, continues to build momentum, the Company will be a key supplier for many years to come. Despite the boom-and-bust cycle in demand seen for many semiconductors during Covid-19 and post-Covid-19, the Company should be able to post solid double-digit growth next year as inventories and end-market demand across most of its technology nodes get back to normal levels. The Company also maintains dominant market share in leading-edge nodes, which is in short supply, given the difficulties its competitors have had in scaling up EUV-based manufacturing. The Company has been able to secure higher prices because of this and can still generate excellent returns on elevated capital expenditures necessary for this scarce capacity. The Company is arguably one of a handful of the world’s most important and largest companies, but because the Company’s shares trade as an ADR (American Depositary Receipt) the shares are not part of the major stock market indices in the U.S. As a result, the shares are woefully under owned by U.S. investors (institutional and individual), particularly for a company that regularly generates cash flow return on invested capital in excess of +40%. Therefore, our growing position in these shares represent a significantly relatively overweight portfolio position versus our peers and benchmarks. We could not be more pleased by this anachronistic institutional imperative.”
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