We recently compiled a list of the 10 Most Widely Held Stocks by Hedge Funds. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against the other widely held stocks.

Two 25 Point Cuts May be the Most Likely Outcome

The last trading day of September is upon us and so are many questions about the market. On September 30, Dana D’Auria, Envestnet Solutions co-CIO and group president, appeared in an interview on Yahoo Finance to discuss the financial market.

D’Auria regards employment data to be a major concern at the moment. Since inflation rates are subsiding, employment data is something investors should be on the lookout for, along with other data points including GDP and consumer confidence. She suggests that to ensure a soft landing, the Fed must initiate larger rate cuts, and that recessionary conditions are out of the picture.

September is notoriously volatile along with October, and, with elections in another 35 days, the conditions may be slightly different or even more turbulent. According to D’Auria, the 50 basis point cut is a catch-up for July, and expecting a 50 basis point cut in November is borderline questionable.

Overall, she believes that the market has been overshooting and we may have to settle for two 25 basis point cuts before the end of 2024. She reiterates that the job market is crucial and investors must get out of their comfort zone to invest in non-cash opportunities. Investors concerned about low-risk options may consider equities in the defensive sectors that are innately low volatile.

The Market is Broadening

Wall Street is heading to close September and Q3 on a high note and stocks have experienced their best September in over a decade. On September 30, Kevin Gordon, harles Schwab’s Director and Senior Investment Strategist, appeared in an interview on Yahoo Finance to discuss his market thesis.

Gordon believes that stocks in the utilities and defensive sectors have caught up to tech stocks amid the AI boom, compared to their financials at the end of FY 2023. However, he does acknowledge that sectors like industrials, financials, and materials are performing relatively well, calling it a case of market broadening.

In terms of market breadth, most sectors are experiencing an upward trajectory. Almost 81% of the S&P 500 members are experiencing an uptrend, despite the quality bias investors may have towards certain stocks. According to Gordon, large-cap quality stocks will continue to perform well despite the volatility and the Fed’s decisions. Speaking of smaller-cap stocks, he believes that some stocks may struggle a bit especially when it comes to earnings growth.

Our Methodology

To come up with the 10 most widely held stocks by hedge funds, we sifted through Insider Monkey’s database that tracks over 900 hedge funds, as of Q2 2024. We ranked the top 10 stocks that were the most widely held by hedge funds in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 184

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), the company behind the iPhone, is one of the most widely held stocks by hedge funds. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) also offers services such as iCloud, Apple Pay, Apple Music, and Apple TV+.

In the fiscal third quarter of 2024, the company launched Apple Intelligence, a personal intelligence system backed by AI. Apple Intelligence is integrated into all new iPhone, iPad, and Mac models. The launch of iPhone 16 and iOS 18 is expected to drive strong financial results for the company for the rest of 2024.

In FQ3 2024, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) logged $85.8 billion in quarterly revenue, up by 5% year-over-year. Of this, the iPhone reported revenue worth $39.3 billion and Mac revenue was $7 billion, up by 2% from a year ago. Apple’s economic moat lies in its consistent financial performance. Over the past 10 years, the company has grown its revenues and net income by 8% and 10%, respectively.

Analysts are bullish on AAPL and their 12-month median price target of $250 points to a 10% upside from current levels. Overall, AAPL was held by 184 hedge funds in the second quarter of 2024, with total stakes worth $124.18 billion.

Columbia Contrarian Core Fund stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

“Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Despite the stock falling after announcing earnings in late May, Apple regained ground toward the end of the quarter, fueled by the company’s long-awaited AI announcement at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WDC). At the conference, the company showcased some of its new AI features powered by Apple Intelligence that would be coming to Apple products and also announced a partnership with ChatGPT. Investors greatly welcomed the announcement of Apple’s AI strategy and the stock surged, passing Microsoft as the world’s most valuable company (although this hallmark wouldn’t last). Beta testing of these new features will be coming later this summer, but the initial promise and excitement looks to be a potential catalyst for an upgrade cycle, as the company looks to persuade users who have had the same smartphone for years to consider an upgrade.”

Overall AAPL ranks 5th on our list of the most widely held stocks by hedge funds. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AAPL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.