Below we presented the list of top 5 blue chip stocks to buy today. Four our detailed discussion as well as a more comprehensive list please see the 15 best blue chip stocks to buy right now.
5. Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS)
No of Hedge Funds: 112
Total Value of Hedge Fund Holdings: $8 Billion
Walt Disney Co. is a company most popularly known as Disney. It is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate.
The top hedge fund holder for this stock is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management with more than $1 billion invested in the stock at the end of September.
During the third fiscal quarter ended on June 27, Walt Disney Co. reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations for the quarter was a loss of $2.61. Billionaire Dan Loeb outlined his Disney investment thesis in Third Point’s 2020 Q2 investor letter:
“During Q2, we initiated a long position in The Walt Disney Company when shares traded down on fears that closures of theme parks and movie theaters due to the coronavirus pandemic would cripple the company. A slew of sell‐side analysts had recently downgraded the stock but we believed they failed to grasp that the pandemic also provided Disney with an important opportunity – to accelerate a plan to bring its blockbuster content directly to the consumer via streaming, which will further elevate Disney’s position as the world’s pre‐ eminent media company. Streaming is Disney’s biggest market opportunity ever with potentially $500 billion of revenue spread across over a growing market of 750 million current broadband homes globally ex‐China, dwarfing the size of Disney’s current addressable markets (roughly $100 billion between global box offices and theme parks). Disney’s dominant position in the global media landscape sets up the company to take a meaningful chunk of the growing DTC streaming market, shown by the early success of Disney+. In less than nine months, Disney+ attained 60 million global subscribers, a milestone that took Netflix over seven years to meet.
On August 4th, Bob Chapek addressed the market after his first full quarter as Disney’s CEO. We were pleased that he views DTC as Disney’s “top priority” and believe his decision to premiere a tentpole film like Mulan through Disney+ is a defining moment. We encourage Disney to continue leveraging its new digital platforms to further connect fans with their iconic content and brands and, as Mr. Chapek said, “take full advantage of the opportunity” available to Disney today.”
4. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)
No of Hedge Funds: 118
Total Value of Hedge Fund Holdings: $6 Billion
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company. The company is considered the global leader for financial services, offering solutions to the world’s most important corporations and alike.
In an article, we showed a detailed version of where JPM’s Hedge Fund Stands.
“At the end of the third quarter, a total of 118 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this sock, a change of -4% from one quarter earlier. By comparison, 94 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in JPM a year ago.”
Pixabay/Public Domain
3. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
No of Hedge Funds: 134
Total Value of Hedge Fund Holdings: $127 Billion
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation considered as one of the biggest technology companies in the world. The company designs, develops, and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers.
The top hedge fund holder for this stock is Warrant Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway with more than $109 billion stocks invested at the end of September. Berkshire Hathaway boosted its stake in AAPL by 286% during the third quarter.
During the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2020 that ended September 26, 2020, the company posted revenue of $64.7 billion and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $0.73. Here is what Wedgewood Partners said about Apple in its Q3 investor letter:
“Moving on to the holdings that contributed the most to the portfolio’s absolute return during the quarter, Apple’s revenue growth accelerated to +11% as iPad revenue growth accelerated to its fastest in six years, driven by work from home and distance learning demand. The Company also reported a staggering +550 million paid subscriptions across its services line – nearly three times as many subscribers as Netflix – and up +30% over last year. We expect iPhone demand to accelerate in the coming quarters as Apple launches a flagship phone capable of running on new highspeed 5G networks around the globe. While we trimmed our position during the quarter due to our long-held maximum portfolio position size of 10%, Apple continues to be one of our largest holdings.”
Copyright: dennizn / 123RF Stock Photo
2. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)
No of Hedge Funds: 160
Total Value of Hedge Fund Holdings: $18 Billion
Visa Inc. is an American multinational financial services corporation. They are a global payment technology company offering electronic fund transfers throughout the world.
The top hedge fund holder for this stock is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management with more than $4 billion invested at the end of September.
During the 3Q ending September 30, 2020, Visa reported revenue of $5.101 billion, a 16.88% decline year-over-year.
1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
No of Hedge Funds: 234
Total Value of Hedge Fund Holdings: $42 Billion
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation founded in 1975. The company develops, produces, markets computer software, consumer electronics, etc.,
During the third and fourth quarter of 2020, the company saw a higher demand in cloud usage and higher demand for WindowsOEM brought about by the lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As the quarter ended in September 2020, Microsoft Corporation reported revenue of $37.2 billion an increase of 12%, and an operating income of $15.9 billion an increase of 25%. Riverpark Partners has seen the huge increase in Microsoft shares coming last year. Here is what they said:
Microsoft has, we believe, entered a second chapter of market-leading growth that will drive the company’s revenue and profits for years to come. Microsoft’s Cloud Infrastructure offering is in the fastest growing segment of the cloud services market (including software-as-a-service (SaaS)), a market that is characterized by recurring revenues, strong pricing, high levels of customer engagement and high margins. The overall Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) industry is growing more than 30% per year and is forecast to reach $100 billion of revenues by 2021. We believe that cloud-based services can become the company’s largest revenue and earnings producer and expect Microsoft to generate significant and growing free cash flow ($11 billion last quarter, up 19% year-over-year). The company should deliver at least mid-to-high teens EPS growth, with upside from deploying its $134 billion cash balance ($7 billion was returned to shareholders in the quarter through dividends and share buybacks). We trimmed our position on strength, and Microsoft remains a top five position in in the Fund.”
Please also see 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds and 10 Best Catalyst-Driven Value Stocks to Buy Now
