Allergan Inc. (AGN), Apple Inc. (AAPL) Are Among Hedge Funds’ Favorite Picks

Pavle Sabic, financial risk manager at S&P Capital IQ, in an interview on CNBC discussed the stocks that hedge funds have been most bulish on. The top company is Allergan Inc. (NYSE:AGN), with total value of shares purchased by hedge funds amounting to $1.4 billion, followed closely by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), which shows no ambivalence, in terms of both large buys and sells, compared to last quarter, with around $1.96 billion worth of shares bought and $871 million – sold.

“The report is called ‘Hedge Fund Tracker’ and it looks at the top 10 pure-play hedge funds in the US industry, looking at SEC’s [Securities Exchange Commission] 13F filings. And it allows us to look at the stock picking hedge funds, so we’re not looking at the ‘supermarket’ hedge funds, which may invest in industries, other mutual funds or pension funds, but the ones that are really going for the stock picks,” said Pavle Sabic.

Part of Allergan Inc. (NYSE:AGN) success is due to Bill Ackman’s purchase of 9.7% of the company’s stock, that is 28.88 million shares of the company and his intentions to acquire it together with Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), although the bid was declined by Allergan. It is alleged that Ackman benefited from insider information, yet it cannot be considered an illegal action and the issue is currently debated in many publications.

On the other hand, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) might owe part of its success to the upcoming new release of iPhone 6. Another factor boosting their popularity is considered to be the opening of a new store in the United Arab Emirates. Hopefully, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will be able to sustain the current level of interest among the investors while dodging massive sales as previously recorded.

On the other side of the story, media stocks do not share the success of the above-mentioned companies, depicts the same report from S&P Capital. The main reason for that looks to be the failed mega M&A deal between Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOXA) and Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX).

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