Top 20 Most Popular Stocks Among Financial Advisors This Week

Next in line is Visa Inc (NYSE:V), which reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2015 two weeks ago, missing the earnings estimates, but reporting better-than-expected revenue. The results as well as the acquisition of Visa Europe, which was announced on the same day, were appreciated by analysts, with most of them reiterating bullish ratings on the stock and several raising their price targets on it, including Piper Jaffray and Bank of America, which increased their price targets to $89 and $85, respectively. The funds from our database are also bullish on Visa Inc (NYSE:V), with 102 funds amassing 5.60% of the company’s outstanding stock at the end of the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management is the largest shareholder of Visa Inc (NYSE:V) among the funds we follow, amassing 14.63 million shares as of the end of September.

iShares Barclays 20+ Yr Treas. Bond (ETF) (NYSEARCA:TLT), which tracks the performance of the Barclays US 20+ Treasury Bond Index and invests 95% of its assets in U.S government bonds with a maturity of at least 20 years, is another interesting pick to follow the smart money into. The ETF is down by 3.88% since the beginning of the year amid uncertainty regarding an interest rate hike by the Fed by the end of 2015. Among the investors we follow, 26 funds held shares of iShares Barclays 20+ Yr Treas. Bond (ETF) (NYSEARCA:TLT) at the end of the third quarter.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is another closely-watched financial company. With federal prosecutors still investigating the financial crisis and practices involving the trading of mortgage-based securities, large lenders like JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) have to endure high litigation costs. However, a strict control policy allows JPMorgan to return capital to shareholders. Earlier this year, JPMorgan raised its dividend to $0.44 from $0.40, and its stock currently sports a dividend yield of 2.61%. Among the funds from our database, 100 reported stakes in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) in the just-ended round of 13F filings.

Crude lost some ground in the last week or so, with WTI sliding by around $4.00 as the International Energy Agency provided a bearish outlook for the next year. In 2016, the oil market will still be dominated by an oversupply of crude that lagging demand will be unable to match, according to the Agency. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)‘s stock has declined by around 5% over the last five days amid the news, extending its year-to-date drop to 13%. With low crude prices, oil companies have to embark on stricter cost-cutting campaigns in order to maintain their high-dividend policies and keep investors from fleeing. Nevertheless, collectively, hedge funds that we track are underweight Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM). A total of 61 funds held shares of the company at the end of September, amassing 1.0% of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)’s outstanding stock. Among them, Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management and billionaire Donald Yacktman‘s Yacktman Asset Management held the top positions, holding stakes containing 6.11 million shares and 5.89 million shares, respectively.