Apple Inc. (AAPL), Facebook Inc (FB), Amazon, Alphabet Inc: Quant Models Like Only Two of These Stocks

Compared to Apple, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is much less popular among the six quants we have selected. First of all, two of them, PDT Partners and Hutchin Hill Capital, didn’t held any shares of Facebook in the third quarter. Second of all, three of the remaining four funds significantly reduced their positions in the company. The only fund that increased its stake in Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is AQR Capital Management, which held 3.34 million shares at the end of September, up by 17% over the quarter. On the other hand, Renaissance Technologies, held the smallest stake, which was reduced by 75% to 166,000 shares during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisors and D. E. Shaw cut their stakes by 61% and 66% over the quarter to 702,034 shares and 1.51 million shares, respectively. However, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) ranked as the second most popular stock among the funds in our database with 149 funds holding shares at the end of September and it was the favorite stock among billionaire investors tracked by us.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is the only stock in this list in which all six quants disclosed long positions in their latest 13F filings. The largest stake is held by D. E. Shaw & Co., which inched down its position by 8% to 1.08 million shares during the third quarter. Another fund that reduced its exposure to the company is Renaissance Technologies, which owned 102,555 shares, down by 56% over the quarter. On the other hand, Two Sigma Advisors and AQR Capital Management increased their positions by 23% and 9% respectively and held 356,601 shares and 547,459 shares, respectively at the end of September. PDT Partners and Hutchin Hill Capital held smaller positions, with the former having raised its stake by 29% to 12,700 shares and the latter having initiated a new position that amassed 4,862 shares. It’s worth mentioning, that in the equity portfolios of two funds, D. E. Shaw and Two Sigma Advisors, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) represented the largest positions. Overall, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was also the most popular stock among the funds we track, with 150 of them holding shares heading into the fourth quarter.