Top 20 Most Popular Stocks Among Financial Advisors This Week

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)‘s stock has surprised investors as it has more than doubled since the beginning of the year. Jeff Bezos’ focus on long-term gains is starting to bear fruit, as the company has become one of the largest in terms of market capitalization. In the third quarter, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) reported a profit of $0.17 per share, while the Street expected a loss of $0.10, with its Amazon Web Services segment playing a major role in turning the company to profitability. The growth has attracted more investors among the smart money, as according to our data, 113 funds held shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) at the end of September, versus 103 funds a quarter earlier.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is another high growth stock with gains north of 35% so far this year. Facebook is expected to increase its revenue by around 40% per year in 2016 and 2017 as the company has reported strong results from its mobile segment, as well as solid overall growth in daily and monthly average users. Among the funds we track, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) ranked as the second-most popular tech stock with 128 funds owning shares, including Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors, which increased its stake by 84% last quarter to 1.06 million shares. Last month, Omega said that it expects Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to deliver an 18% growth rate over the medium-term.

General Electric Company (NYSE:GE)‘s decision to focus on its core business and exit its financing unit, GE Capital, was applauded by investors, who have sent the stock 20% higher since the beginning of the year. In the process, the company has returned and will return more capital to shareholders, which is another reason to be bullish on the stock. At the moment, General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) is trading at around 20-times forward earnings and its stock sports a dividend yield of 3.02%. A total of 74 funds from our database held shares of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) at the end of September, including billionaire Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management, which added 40.94 million shares to its GE position, taking it to 90.57 million shares.

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)‘s stock has edged down by 4% so far this year, as a stronger dollar and weakness in emerging markets is putting more pressure on the company’s sales. At a P/E of 24.4, Colgate-Palmolive’s stock is trading below the industry average and offers an attractive dividend yield of 2.29%. As a consumer defensive stock, Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) represents a good long-term holding. Billionaire Jim Simons’ quant fund Renaissance Technologies is one of the largest shareholders of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL), owning 11.44 million shares. However, just 31 funds from our database held shares of the company at the end of September, amassing 3.20% of its outstanding stock.