5 Best Fortune 500 Stocks to Buy Now

4. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 120

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the Big Five US tech giants that is well on its way to reach a $3 trillion valuation, making it one of the best Fortune 500 stocks to buy now. To fend off competitors stealing away its top talent, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) recently gave 10% to 20% of its engineering professionals stock bonuses of up to $180,000. 

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s move away from Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) in 2020 raised questions about the company’s ability to power its MacBooks and iMacs, but the launch of the Apple M1 chip in 2020 was thoroughly successful, allowing longer battery life and a fanless design that made the machines quieter. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Q2 Mac revenue increased 70.1% due to the M1 chip. 

Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty on December 22 observed that major end markets like China are posting high iPhone shipment growth, and she believes that iPhone production is “surprising to the upside.” She kept an Overweight rating and a $200 price target on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares.

Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Berkshire Hathaway is the biggest Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stakeholder, with a $125.5 billion position in the company during the third quarter. Overall, 120 hedge funds held stakes in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in Q3 2021, down from 138 funds in the prior quarter. 

Here is what ClearBridge Investments has to say about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q1 2021 investor letter:

“As we actively manage holdings and position sizes, we look to regularly recycle capital into more compelling opportunities. Maintaining our valuation discipline, we sharply reduced our position in Apple, whose shares more than doubled following our initial purchase in mid-2019 with an earnings multiple rising from the low-to-mid teens to nearly 30x.”