Were Hedge Funds Right about Their Top 10 Picks in Q3?

On the second spot at the end of June was Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), which, despite its popularity among hedge funds, was also one of the stocks that hedge funds were underweight on, since they amassed only 2.90% of the company. Overall, 144 funds disclosed holdings worth $2.13 billion in aggregate, slightly lower than a quarter earlier. The stock lost almost 12% between June and September, as the company became the target of fears related to the sales of its iPhones amid a global economic slowdown. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) missed the iPhone sales estimates for the last reported quarter. However, the fears seem premeditated, since the company’s new iPhones posted strong sales figures in the first weekend, amounting to 13 million units, in line with estimates and topping the previous year’s results by around 30%. Moreover, despite somewhat tame sentiment from the hedge fund industry, Carl Icahn is still a big fan of the company and considers that it is currently trading cheaply. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has around $200 billion in cash and its large buybacks, dividend payments and new product launches make it an attractive investment, despite the risks associated with the dependency of its financial results on a single product. Icahn held 52.76 million shares of Apple at the end of June.