The 10 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds, Part I

An interesting development in the third quarter was the 18% jump of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s class A and class C shares. The growth attracted more attention to the company and at the end of September, 129 funds held $11.30 billion worth of the company’s class A stock and 119 funds reported ownership of $10.18 billion worth of Alphabet’s class C shares. In this way, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s class A stock ranked as the third most-popular among the funds from our database, while the class C stock ranked on the sixth spot. A quarter earlier, 115 funds held $8.19 billion in class A shares and 107 funds owned $8.59 billion worth of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s class C stock. In this way, Alphabet remains one of the best tech investments, with a 40% return year-to-date and a solid cadre of diversified  businesses that will continue to deliver value for years to come. Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global held 2.53 million class A shares and 1.12 million class C shares of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), according to its latest 13F filing.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)‘s popularity among the investors we track has declined, as 127 funds reported Facebook stakes in the latest round of 13F filings, down by six over the quarter. However, the aggregate value of their holdings appreciated to $8.95 billion from $8.86 billion amid a 5% growth of the stock between July and September. One of the reasons for investors choosing to close their stakes could be Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s 35.5 forward earnings multiple, which, compared to the 15.8 median for the S&P 500, suggests that the stock is overvalued. Nevertheless, if the company continues to monetize on the mobile segment as it has been doing, its stock will continue to gain ground. Currently, analysts have a $119.50 consensus price target on the stock, which implies 13% upside potential. Billionaire Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital reported ownership of 10.70 million shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), while Billionaire Stan Druckenmiller‘s Duquesne Capital more than doubled its stake to 4.09 million shares, which represented its top holding at the end of September.

Finally, Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) slid to the fifth spot from fourth, as the number of funds bullish on it declined by five to 121 during the third quarter. The 121 funds held $10.33 billion worth of stock at the end of September, slightly lower than the $11.82 billion held by 126 funds a quarter earlier. Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C)’s shares slid by more than 10% in the third quarter, which was pretty much in line with other major lenders. At a price to book of 0.8, Citigroup is trading below the industry median and offers a Return on Equity of 6.60%, slightly below its peers. Billionaire Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management owns 11.89 million shares of Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C).

Disclosure: None