12 Best Major Stocks to Buy Now

In this piece, we will take a look at the 12 best major stocks to buy now.

2023 has been the year of major stocks. Mega cap stocks such as Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have led the stock market in returns and as a result, have pushed the broader market into positive territory. To understand how, consider the fact that year to date, the three firm’s shares have appreciated by 34.40%, 129%, and 53.9%, respectively. On the other side, the NASDAQ Composite index which is made of nearly all the stocks on the NASDAQ market is up by 33% year to date while the NASDAQ 100 index made of the largest non financial firms listed on the NASDAQ, is up by 40%.

This surge in the fortune of technology companies is on the back of the biggest technology booms in recent history, namely artificial intelligence. Commonly called AI, artificial intelligence is simply advanced mathematics that is used to generate new outcomes or predictions based on patterns observed in previously known data sets. The biggest winner by far due to AI is none other than the semiconductor firm NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). NVIDIA designs and sells graphics processing units (GPUs) which are used to power up AI systems such as the popular ChatGPT platform. As its reward, investors have piled into NVIDIA’s shares, with the stock up a whopping 196% year to date, having added nearly $281 to its current share price of $424. If you’re interested in some great artificial intelligence stocks, do check out Top 10 Generative Artificial Intelligence Companies to Invest In.

This surge in major stocks has naturally made the founders of the companies unimaginably richer than they were at 2022 end when the technology industry as a whole was routed in an inflationary macroeconomic environment. For instance, Meta’s founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is one of the youngest billionaires in the world, added $58.9 billion to his net worth, while Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s chief Mr. Elon Musk led the list of growth in riches as he saw his net worth grow by nearly a $100 billion. Tesla’s shares are up by ~159% year to date, making it rank second only to NVIDIA when it comes to share price outperformance by major companies and stocks.

But what about the future? After all, one of the most common mantras on the market is that ‘past performance is not indicative of future returns.’ Well, on this front, one strategy to study stock market movement is called trend analysis. This involves graphing out previous share price movements and using these to compute probabilities to guess what might take place in the future. These trends analyze investor sentiment on a mass scale and can help analyze whether market sentiment in a stock will sustain. If you’re interested in learning more details about this, take a look at 10 Momentum Stocks Billionaires Are Loading Up On.

On this front, one of the pros in technical investment, Katie Stockton had some crucial insights to share in an interview with CNBC where she pointed out when her firm was able to guess that the S&P500 index would soar to the heights that is today – fueled of course by mega cap stocks. She shared:

You know, when we got the breakout, that’s what changed things, in mid May we had the breakout above the 4,155. We were working under the assumption that that range [4,000] would hold and of course it did not. . .We’re always just trying to put odds in our favor. Nobody knows what’s gonna, you know, be the next month or the next year even. But we’re trying to make sure that we have momentum gauges on our side, relative strength on our side, we want to make sure there’s no big overbought/sell signals. So that’s our charge. We wanna make sure that we have those things supporting the market. And when we do, we’re bullish. When we don’t, we shift back to bearish bias.

So the breakout did yield an objective of about 4,510. That’s also aligned with the resistance level through the Fibonacci retracements. So that would be a natural pace for a pullback to unfold more than what we’ve already seen. And yet, as long as the momentum is there, and as long as we don’t have any big overbought sell signals, which we don’t at this time, we want to stay with the bullish bias until it proves us otherwise until we see that loss of momentum. Because I think that this market is probably a very long term trading range. If you look at the monthly gauges, you’ll see that they tend to flatten out. You look forward a couple of years. So to me, within that context, they have to have an intermediate term focus on momentum, and when we don’t have that intermediate term momentum benefiting the market, we wanna be managing risk of course.

With these details in mind, let’s take a look at some top major stocks to buy. Among these, some that are likely to catch your attention are Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META).

Our Methodology

To compile our list of the best major stocks to buy, we consulted two of the best performing indexes this year, the S&P500 and NASDAQ 100. A list of the top constituents common to both was made, and the top twelve major stocks based on the number of hedge fund investors as of Q1 2023 out of the 943 part of Insider Monkey’s database were selected.

12 Best Major Stocks to Buy Now

12. Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q1 2023: 61

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is a technology company that makes and sells networking and connectivity products. It is one firm that is slated to significantly benefit from the ongoing artificial intelligence boom particularly due to its cybersecurity products.

For this year’s first quarter, 61 out of the 943 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey had bought the firm’s shares. Out of these, Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s largest shareholder is Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke, and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital with a $705 million investment.

Along with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is a hot major stock to buy according to hedge funds.

11. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q1 2023: 63

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is one of the biggest retailers in the world. Out of 29 analysts, 18 have rated the firm’s shares Buy or above. The average share price target also pencils in a small upside of $8.

By the end of March 2023, 63 out of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had invested in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST). Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is the biggest shareholder through owning a stake worth $1.2 billion.

10. Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q1 2023: 72

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) is one of the most important semiconductor firms in the world, designing connectivity products for a slew of gadgets and computers. The firm also has one of the best dividend growth rates you’re likely to find, having grown its dividends by 20% over the past five years.

72 out of the 943 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey for their Q1 2023 portfolios owned a stake in the firm. Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)’s largest hedge fund investor is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management through owning 1.1 million shares worth $766 million.

9. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q1 2023: 82

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is the biggest electric car manufacturer in the world. Its second quarter of 2023 deliveries set a new record, sending the shares soaring and helping the NASDAQ as a whole.

Insider Monkey dug through 943 hedge funds to gauge their sentiment during 2023’s March quarter to find out that 82 had invested in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA). Out of these, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw is the biggest shareholder through a $1.2 billion investment.

8. Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q1 2023: 99

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) is a major software company that provides engineers, architects, and designers with software products for planning and design. It is also a key player in the artificial intelligence race, due to the potential to leverage the technology with its products to enable better decisions and outcomes.

99 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had held a stake in the software firm during Q1 2023. During the same time period, Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)’s largest hedge fund investor was Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management courtesy of 4.9 million shares worth $1.8 billion.

7. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q1 2023: 108

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is one of the largest video streaming platforms in the world. A report from the Financial Times in July 2023 added a new facet to the firm’s operations, as it reported that Netflix will build its own advertising technology to reduce reliance on Microsoft.

After sifting through 943 hedge funds for their first quarter of 2023 portfolios, Insider Monkey discovered that 108 had bought and owned Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)’s shares. Out of these,  the largest investor was Boykin Curry’s Eagle Capital Management through a $1.4 billion stake.

6. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q1 2023: 131

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the largest technology company in the world in terms of revenue. It injected fresh interest in its portfolio earlier this year after it announced a ‘spatial computing’ platform called the Apple Vision Pro – a headset that allows you to add a new dimension to using a computer.

As of this year’s first quarter, 131 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had invested in the company. None other than Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s largest investor with a massive $150 billion investment that grew by 3% in Q1 2023.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) are some top major stocks.

5. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q1 2023: 132

A fitting start to the second part of our list is NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). The firm has emerged as a key player in the artificial intelligence industry, with its products proving indispensable when it comes to powering up large scale systems. NVIDIA scored another big win in June when the well known semiconductor research firm Daiwa upgraded the firm’s share rating to Outperform from Neutral.

By the end of this year’s first quarter, 132 out of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had bought a stake in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). Out of these, the firm’s largest shareholder is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management with a $2.7 billion investment.

4. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q1 2023: 155

Kicking off big tech’s entry into the list of best major stocks is Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). A household name, the company silently developed a quantum supercomputer in June 2023 which is capable of beating existing ones by 47 years in calculation time.

Insider Monkey’s research of 943 hedge fund portfolios for 2023’s March quarter revealed that 155 had invested in the company. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s largest investor through owning $4.3 billion worth of shares.

3. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q1 2023: 220

After a tough year on the stock market in 2022, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has bounced back remarkably well this year with close to 200% in share price gains. It is now looking to take on Twitter in the social media scene, by launching its own platform connected with Instagram.

220 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had bought and owned Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s shares as of Q1 2023. Out of these, the firm’s largest shareholder is Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management with a $1.7 billion stake.

2. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q1 2023: 243

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is the world’s largest electronic commerce retailer. Compared to its other mega cap peers, the firm’s shares have been rather muted this year, having posted ‘only’ 51% in price gains.

By the end of 2023’s March quarter, 243 out of the 943 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had held a stake in the retailer. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s biggest hedge fund investor is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management through a $4.2 billion investment.

1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q1 2023: 289

A fitting end to the list of major stocks is Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). A highly diversified technology company, it sells computers, operating systems, productivity software, headsets, and cloud computing. Like Amazon, its shares have lagged behind peers this year and appreciated by 41% – mostly in line with the NASDAQ 100.

289 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s Q1 2023 database had invested in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Michael Larson’s Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust is the largest shareholder with a $11 billion stake.

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Disclosure: None. 12 Best Major Stocks to Buy Now is originally published on Insider Monkey.