Zweig-DiMenna Associates Reduces Stake In Top Tech Holdings In Q2

Proceeding to Zweig-DiMenna Associates second-most valuable tech holding, Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL). The fund sold 70,287 shares of the company during the April-June period to bring its total holding down to 223,750 shares worth $28.06 million as of June 30. Shares of the world’s largest company by market cap have slumped heavily since it reported its latest quarterly earnings on July 21. However, they spiked up by 3.64% on August 10 on rumors that Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) might be planning an event in September where it will release new devices, possibly new generations of the Apple TV and iPads. Another reason for that spike could be that Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz reiterated his ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock, with a price target of $155. In his report, Uerkwitz brushed off concerns that the slowdown in the Chinese economy might have a significant impact on sales of Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) devices in the country.  We at Insider Monkey continue to be long-term bearish on the stock, primarily because regardless of the launch of new devices and platforms, Apple for all practical purposes is still a single product company and will face significant competition in the smartphone space in the coming years. A hedge fund that increased its stake in Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) during the second quarter was Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management, which owned over 11 million shares of the company as of June 30.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) represented the third-largest tech holding of Zweig-DiMenna Associates at the end of June. The fund sold 26% of its shares of the company during the second quarter to bring its total holding down to 303,873 shares worth $25 million. The company is scheduled to report its fiscal 2015 first quarter earnings on August 12. Analysts expect the company to report EPS of $0.58 on revenue of $3.38 billion, which signifies a 44% and 30% year-over-year increase respectively. On August 10 , the online retailing giant announced that it will be investing $4.5 billion in Chinese brick-and-mortar electronics retailer Suning, acquiring about a 20% stake in the company. According to analysts, this deal will strengthen Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA)’s on-ground presence and will help it to compete against rival JD.com, which leads in the consumer electronics retail space. Fisher Asset Management also bought shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) during the second quarter, purchasing over 1.3 million of them.

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