In this article, we will take a look at Mormon Church’s 5 biggest stock positions. To see more such companies, you can go to Mormon Church’s 15 Biggest Stock Positions.
5. UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH)
The Mormon Church’s biggest positions list also includes UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH), in which Ensign Peak Advisors has a $951 million stake. Over the past one year the stock has performed pretty well given the market situation, gaining over 5%.
In November, UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) reaffirmed its FY 2022 EPS and adj. EPS guidance ahead of its annual investor conference. For 2022 UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) said it was expecting its revenue to come in at $324 billion, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.27 billion. For 2023, UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) expects its revenue to come in between $357 billion to $360 billion, compared to the consensus of $352.95 billion.
4. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Ensign Peak Advisors upped its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1% in the September quarter, ending the period with a whopping $991 million stake in the search engine company. On January 6, Alphabet shares jumped after Tigress Financial reiterated its Strong Buy rating for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL). The firm’s analyst Ivan Feinseth is bullish on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) due to its strengths in search and Cloud. The analyst is also bullish on Alphabet’s AI investments.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is the third most popular stock among elite hedge funds. A total of 196 funds have stakes in the search engine giant, as of the end of the third quarter.
LVS Advisory made the following comment about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in its Q4 2022 investor letter:
“We sold our remaining shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the quarter, taking a profit. Google was a day 1 holding for the Growth Portfolio and it has performed well.
18 years after its initial public offering, Google is showing signs of business maturity. During the 2008/2009 recession, Google’s business was able to power through with double digit growth. As of Q3 2022, Google’s core search business has decelerated to low single digit growth and the YouTube and display network businesses reported revenue decline. At the same time, the company’s spending is outpacing the rate of expected revenue growth. Advertising spend is cyclical and the digital advertising industry is fragmenting as many major consumer platforms are scrambling to turn on new streams of revenue (Netflix, Spotify, TikTok, etc.).
My best guess is that Google’s financial results could be quite disappointing, and my estimates are far below what Wall Street analysts are currently modeling. I do not make sell decisions purely based on near term results expectations as they are generally priced into the stock but my downbeat assumptions for Google come at a time when we are finding more value in other areas of the market that we would prefer to allocate to.”
3. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Ensign Peak Advisors has a $1.1 billion stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) as of the end of the third quarter of 2022. The fund first bought a stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) back in the fourth quarter of 2019. Over the past one year Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) lost about half of its stock value. However, analysts are hopeful that the stock would rebound once the market begins to turn the corner.
Hedge funds continue to hold large stakes in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Insider Monkey’s database shows that 269 hedge funds had stakes in the eCommerce giant. The total value of these stakes was $34.6 billion.
Here is what Lakehouse Capital specifically said about Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its November letter:
“Meanwhile, the largest detractor was Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), which remained under pressure due to concerns around near-term profitability. We continue to believe that Amazon’s cost pressures will prove to be short-term in nature and that the company remains on track to deliver significant profit improvements over the next twelve months. For more commentary on their most recent earnings report please see last month’s letter here.”
2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
The Mormon Church’s second biggest stock position is Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), as of the end of the third quarter of 2022. Ensign Peak Advisors added over 184,000 shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to its portfolio in the September quarter. The total value of the firm’s stake at the end of the period was $1.93 billion.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is also the most popular stock among the 920 elite hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey. As of the end of the third quarter of last year, 269 hedge funds had stakes in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), compared to 258 funds in the previous quarter.
1. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the biggest stock position of the Mormon Church as of the end of the third quarter of 2022, as it owned a $2.16 billion stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) via Ensign Peak Advisors. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is also among the most popular stocks held by hedge funds. As of the end of the September quarter, 140 hedge funds reported having stakes in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), compared to 128 funds in the previous quarter.
Earlier this month, Wedbush’s Dan Ives called Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) his top stock pick in the technology sector. The analyst, however, lowered the price target on the stock to $175. The analyst said that the demand side of the company is still strong.
You can also take a peek at 15 Biggest Non-Tech Companies in the World and 23 Most Powerful Countries in the World.
