The 5 Social Networking Stocks That Hedge Funds Are Most Bullish On

#3 Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)

 – Hedge Funds With Long Positions (as of March 31): 27

 – Aggregate Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of March 31): $403.16 million

Moving on, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) continued to lose popularity among the hedge funds in our database during the first quarter, as hedge fund ownership feel to 27 from 30. The announcement of the Microsoft/LinkedIn deal helped Twitter’s stock recoup some of the losses it suffered earlier this year, as the company as seen as a potential takeover candidate itself, but Twitter shares are still trading down by 22% in 2016. On June 14, technology news website Re/code revealed that Twitter has invested $70 million in audio-sharing platform SoundCloud and is considering acquiring the Berlin-based company. Billionaire Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies was among the few funds that initiated a stake in Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) during the first quarter, purchasing 788,900 shares.

#2 LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD)

 – Hedge Funds With Long Positions (as of March 31): 41

 – Aggregate Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of March 31): $1.38 billion

The disappointing fourth quarter results that LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) reported in February and the fall its stock saw as a result caused several hedge funds in our system to flee the stock during the first quarter, with ownership of it falling by seven. Notable investors that sold off their entire stake in the company during the quarter included John Griffin‘s Blue Ridge Capital and Renaissance Technologies. The heavy beating that shares of the professional networking company experienced during the January-to-March period can be gauged from the fact that even after the almost 45% rise since Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s announcement that it would be acquiring the company for $26.2 billion, LinkedIn’s stock is still trading down by 15% year-to-date. Nonetheless, a lot of analysts still feel that Microsoft Corporation is paying too much to acquire LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), since the latter doesn’t generate any earnings and the quality of its cash flow is low.

#1 Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)

 – Hedge Funds With Long Positions (as of March 31): 164

 – Aggregate Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of March 31): $14.65 billion

With the number of shareholders of the stock rising by 18 during the first quarter, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) continued to remain the most popular social media company among the funds in our database. Shares of the social media giant are creeping back towards their all-time high reached in May and are up by 12% year-to-date. Facebook recently unveiled a new feature on its platform through which it will be able to track users’ store visits and purchases. According to analysts, this feature could prove to be a major winner for the company going forward, as the data it collects will be highly valuable to merchants and advertisers. On May 31, analysts at SunTrust reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating and $135 price target on the stock. Billionaire Andreas Halvorsen‘s Viking Global initiated a stake in Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) during the first quarter, purchasing 20.13 million shares of the stock.

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