This article presents an overview of the 5 Most Widely Held Stocks by Individuals. For a detailed overview of such stocks, read our article, 16 Most Widely Held Stocks by Individuals.
5. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 134
Morgan Stanley analysts led by Erik Woodring recently said in a note that Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) might be very close to launching exciting AI products and LLMs. The analyst cited an uptick in the number of AI-related job posts at Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL). Woodring said Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has developed a technology to utilize NAND flash to power large language models. The analyst has an Overweight rating and a $220 price target on the stock.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a famous stock among retail investors as well as hedge funds.
As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 134 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL). The most significant stake in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway which owns a $157 billion stake in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL).
In its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter, ClearBridge Dividend Strategy stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL):
“We meaningfully reduced our exposure to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in 2023. Apple is the largest company in the world and produces terrific products that engage users for hours each day. Despite the company’s size, ubiquity and relevance, however, Apple’s growth has slowed dramatically. Its fiscal 2023 earnings were flat with those of 2022. Apple trades at 30x earnings; sustaining that multiple will require a meaningful acceleration in revenues. While such an improvement is possible, we do not see any obvious catalysts for adding tens of billions of dollars to Apple’s topline. Consequently, the risk-reward skews negatively.”
4. Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 221
Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) ranks fourth in our list of the most popular stocks among individuals.
Many analysts believe Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is one of those companies best positioned to take advantage of the AI boom. BMO recently said Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) will be one of the stocks that will benefit from the blend of content creation and AI.
Diamond Hill Long-Short Fund made the following comment about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“On an individual holdings’ basis, top contributors to return in Q3 included long positions in KKR, Ciena Corporation and Alphabet. Shares of media and technology company Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) rose in the quarter as its advertising and cloud businesses remain robust and the company delivered results ahead of market expectations. From a sector perspective, communication services also managed a positive Q3 (2%), riding the ongoing wave of positive mega-cap stocks’ performance, like Alphabet.”
3. Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 234
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) ranks third in our list of the stocks widely held by individuals.
Earlier this month, Wells Fargo increased its price target on Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) to $402 from $380, citing potential upside in earnings per share in 2024 and 2025.
“Expect Meta’s positive revision cycle to moderate in ’24, as company lapses multiple micro/macro tailwinds incl. x-border, Reels, and Advantage+, with new potential monetization initiatives yet to ramp up, e.g. Messaging, Threads and Meta AI,” Wells Fargo analysts said.
In its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter, ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META):
“Much of that differential can be attributed to the performance of the Magnificent Seven (Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla), a basket of mega cap growth stocks that accounted for 47.8% of the benchmark return for the quarter and 65.4% for 2023.
The ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy maintains exposure to six of the seven stocks, with overweights in Amazon.com, Meta and Nvidia. Amazon benefited from strong margin expansion across segments, most notably its core e-commerce business, while Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) saw accelerated revenue growth and share gains in online advertising.
Active management of our mega cap exposure contributed to the Strategy outperforming the benchmark both in the fourth quarter and through the narrow leadership market of 2023. We also attribute these improved results to solid stock picking, being opportunistic in adding to or initiating new positions in growth companies at or near the bottom of their earnings cycle, and maintaining a commitment to diversification across our three buckets of growth: select, stable and cyclical.”
2. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 286
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) is making waves after announcing a flurry of AI products and services at the CES 2024. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Siemens said they will collaborate to develop tools for AI-based Cloud software development
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) also revealed AI-powered Alexa experiences, including AI chatbot platform Character.AI, AI music company Splash and Voice AI game developer Volley.
In its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter, ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN):
“Much of that differential can be attributed to the performance of the Magnificent Seven (Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla), a basket of mega cap growth stocks that accounted for 47.8% of the benchmark return for the quarter and 65.4% for 2023.
The ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy maintains exposure to six of the seven stocks, with overweights in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta and Nvidia. Amazon benefited from strong margin expansion across segments, most notably its core e-commerce business, while Meta saw accelerated revenue growth and share gains in online advertising.
Active management of our mega cap exposure contributed to the Strategy outperforming the benchmark both in the fourth quarter and through the narrow leadership market of 2023. We also attribute these improved results to solid stock picking, being opportunistic in adding to or initiating new positions in growth companies at or near the bottom of their earnings cycle, and maintaining a commitment to diversification across our three buckets of growth: select, stable and cyclical.”
1. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 306
Bank of America analyst Alkesh Shah recently added Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) to the list of his favorite software stocks for 2024. The analyst said Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is expected to continue to see gains from AI as he sees “incremental” growth in both Azure and Office thanks to AI. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the most popular stock among the 910 elite hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey.
As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 306 hedge funds reported having stakes in Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT).
In its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter, ClearBridge Dividend Strategy stated the following regarding Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT):
“Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the largest holding in our portfolio. Given its partnership with OpenAI and leading position in the cloud, Microsoft is well-positioned to profit from the boom in AI. However, due to Microsoft’s tremendous scale and diversification, the company is not dependent upon AI for its success. Microsoft’s diverse portfolio of software and cloud offerings ensures the company will thrive even if the next hot thing, like AI, fizzles out. In this way, Microsoft is emblematic of our broader investing approach. We seek to benefit from powerful trends, but we do so with an eye toward managing risk and limiting downside in case the future turns out to be less rosy than hoped for.”
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