In this article, we discuss the 5 stocks better than Zillow according to hedge funds. If you want to read our detailed analysis of these stocks, go directly to the 10 Stocks Better than Zillow According to Hedge Funds.
5. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 105
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) operates as a diversified healthcare firm. It is one of the favorite health stocks of institutional investors, ranking inside the top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds at the end of June 2021. It is not surprising since the company has solid fundamentals and has been investing in growth initiatives like the revamp of Optum, the online drug store of the firm, to stay ahead of the competition.
On October 25, investment advisory Wells Fargo maintained an Overweight rating on UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) stock and raised the price target to $520 from $478, noting the positive guidance of the firm heading into the new year.
At the end of the second quarter of 2021, 105 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $13 billion in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), up from 89 in the preceding quarter worth $12 billion.
In its Q2 2021 investor letter, ClearBridge Investments, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“A good way to conceptualize how we think about portfolio construction is to picture a pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid are the durable compounding growth companies that form the strong foundation, resilience and consistency for the Strategy. We think these companies should comprise just under half of portfolio assets and feature annual revenue growth rates ranging from two times GDP up to 20% as well as healthy free cash flow generation.
UnitedHealth Group, a name we have owned in the Strategy since 1992, is a good example of a long-term compounder, having grown its revenue base from approximately $600 million to north of $260 billion over that time frame. It remains constantly focused on investing in new growth drivers such as telemedicine and health care analytics. Broadcom and Comcast have delivered similar long-term appreciation through a combination of organic growth, capital deployment into new and adjacent opportunities through merger and acquisition activity as well as returning capital to shareholders through buybacks and dividends.”
4. Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 108
Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) develops enterprise cloud computing solutions. It has become one of the most important software stocks in the business world on the back of massive investments in artificial intelligence and the acquisition of Slack, a major competitor, in the past year or so. Reports indicate that the firm is also exploring the purchase of Box, a California-based clout content management platform worth $3.6 billion.
Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) recently announced partnerships with Rocket Mortgage and DocuSign to help advance the futuristic vision of the company in the fintech and contract automation domains.
Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Washington-based investment firm Fisher Asset Management is a leading shareholder in Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) with 13.4 million shares worth more than $3.2 billion.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter, ClearBridge Investments, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“We added to our software-as-a-service (SaaS) exposure with the initiation of SaaS leader salesforce.com, which develops software for customer relationship management (we added Workday, which enterprise resource planning applications, last quarter). Saleforce.com is well-positioned in the most attractive end markets in software and will benefit from secular drivers such as remote work and the digital transformation. Salesforce.com is a sustainability leader as well, with a commitment to carbon-neutral cloud, toward which it has set a goal of 100% renewable energy for global operations by fiscal year 2022. The company has a strong focus on equality, in terms of equal rights, pay, education and opportunity. As a data company it has been leading on workforce disclosures and seeks to have 50% of its U.S. workforce made up of underrepresented groups by 2024.”
3. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 138
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) posted earnings for the third quarter in late October, beating market estimates on earnings per share but missing on revenue by $1.6 billion. There was a lot of analyst chatter around the firm after the results, with most still bullish on the stock but at lowered targets. The troubles seem rooted in supply chain issues that are hampering production. Reports indicate that Apple is sacrificing iPad production to meet iPhone 13 demand.
However, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) remains one of the most valuable firms in the world with solid fundamentals that long-term investors dream about. It is likely it will find a way out of the near-term problems to emerge stronger in the coming months.
At the end of the second quarter of 2021, 138 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $145 billion in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), up from 127 in the preceding quarter worth $131 billion.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Distillate Capital, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“Apple is an even more notable situation and one that highlights our free cash valuation methodology and bears further discussion given its Q3 ‘20 sale from our strategy. For an extended period, Apple was extraordinarily inexpensive on a free cash flow basis and was the largest position in our strategy, exceeding 5% of the portfolio.”
2. Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 146
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) operates as a diversified technology company with core interests in the ecommerce business. The stock has suffered in recent months amid a Chinese government crackdown against dual-listed firms. However, hedge funds have piled into the stock amid the share price decline. Optimism around the company has also returned following reports that Jack Ma, the founder of the firm, was seen at a meeting in Hong Kong after months of absence in the public sphere.
Barclays analyst Jiong Shao recently initiated coverage of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) stock with an Overweight rating and a price target of $275, naming the company the top tech pick from China.
Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Washington-based investment firm Fisher Asset Management is a leading shareholder in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) with 14 million shares worth more than $3.2 billion.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Polen Capital Management, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“Alibaba also detracted from performance as the company continues to remain under regulatory scrutiny from both the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation on antitrust concerns and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on ADR listing requirements. Despite the regulatory overhang, we believe that Alibaba’s competitive positioning and growth outlook remains intact, even if the company must pay fines or modify some business practices. We viewed the current valuation at <20x next twelve month’s earnings as a compelling opportunity to add to our position. Alibaba is the second largest position in the Portfolio.”
1. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 266
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), formerly known as Facebook, is one of the largest technology companies in the world and manages three social media platforms with billions of users. It is also one of two tech firms, along with Alphabet, that have a monopoly on online advertising revenues. The company is valued at close to $1 trillion and posted more than $85 billion in revenue last year.
Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein has an Outperform rating on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) stock with a price target of $405, noting that the advertising revenue of the firm seems durable in the face of rising competition.
At the end of the second quarter of 2021, 266 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $42 billion in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), up from 257 in the preceding quarter worth $40 billion.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter, ClearBridge Investments, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“We continued to keep our learnings from 2020 in mind during the quarter as we sought to increase the up capture of the portfolio. We also made adjustments to the portfolio’s top 10 holdings to increase the participation of select stocks, including Facebook, while trimming our weighting to stable names, which now represent 47% of the portfolio. Our repositioning has been encouraging so far with the portfolio performing better on up days in the market while maintaining good down capture during more turbulent sessions.”
You can also take a peek at 10 Best Healthcare Dividend Stocks to Buy Now and 10 Dividend Stocks with Over 20 Years of Dividend Increases.
