Apple Inc. (AAPL), La-Z-Boy Incorporated (LZB) & More: Chicago-Based Fund Bullish On These Stocks

Forty five days after the end of each calendar quarter (which is March 31 for the first quarter), institutional investors are required to file their 13F forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 13F filings, funds list the value of their equity holdings, as well as the number of shares owned at the end of the quarter. Let’s take a look at the Chicago-based Botty Investors’ latest 13F; highlights include: La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC), SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSEARCA:GLD), and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO).

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It’s important to track hedge fund sentiment, because on the whole, their best picks have been shown to outperform the market by 18 percentage points a year. Best of all, retail investors can capitalize on this phenomenon, but they have to know where to look first. Learn the secrets of this strategy here.

A top trio

During the first quarter of 2013, Botty Investors was bullish on La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB), increasing the position from 903,552 shares to 1,058,052 shares. In this way, the value of the holding in the equity portfolio of the fund went up to almost $20 million, from $13 million at the end of December. A producer of furniture, La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) is trading at a forward P/E of 16.6x and has a YTD return of 4.68%. Recently, La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) announced a $0.04 dividend per share on the company’s common stock.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been switched to the second position after, being the most valuable holding in the 13F filing related to the fourth quarter of 2012. In the most recent 13F, Botty Investors reported holding 21,813 shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), down from 37,673 shares. The value of the stake slid to $9.6 million, compared to $20 million in the previous filing. For the second quarter of its 2013 fiscal year, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported a net profit of $9.5 billion, which represents earnings of $10.09 per diluted share. The year-to-date return of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock is -13.5%, and by the end of next quarter, Apple is expecting revenue situated in the range of $33.5 billion-$35.5 billion, the company said.

In the equity portfolio of Botty Investors, the position of Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) remained unchanged, containing 47,940 shares of the company. However, the value of the stake grew to $3.7 million, from $3.0 million in the last quarter of 2012. The stock of the Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC), which is a distributor of automotive and industrial replacement parts, has a year-to-date return of 21.69% and is trading at a forward P/E below 16. The company posted flat EPS of $0.93 on a diluted basis, while its net income fell by 1% on the year to $144.4 million. Also, Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.5375 per share on its common stock.

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