Warren Buffett is Buying the Dip on These 3 Stocks

2. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 128

YTD Percentage Decline in Share Price as of August 18: 4.16%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) became a part of the Berkshire portfolio in Q1 2016. In Q2 2022, Buffett’s hedge fund owned 894.80 million shares worth $122.3 billion, representing 40.76% of the total 13F securities. Although the stock has declined over 4% year to date as of August 18, Buffett acquired about 5 million new shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during Q2. 

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives on August 17 raised the price target on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to $220 from $200 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. He has closely been monitoring Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Asia supply chain over the last few weeks as the company is in the final stages for its iPhone 14 release in mid-September. The analyst thinks the initial order for 90 million iPhone 14 units will remain intact despite the macro headwinds. This indicates the underlying demand for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) products, which is a positive catalyst for ASPs heading into fiscal 2023.

According to Insider Monkey’s Q2 data, 128 hedge funds were long Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), compared to 131 funds in the preceding quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management held a sizeable position in the company, consisting of 65.6 million shares worth about $9 billion. 

Here is what Wedgewood Partners has to say about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q2 2022 investor letter:

“Apple grew revenues +9%, driven by +17% growth in the Services segment. While iPhone revenues grew a modest +5%, it was on an exceptional year ago comparison of +66%. iPhone continues to capture most industry smartphone profits by focusing on high-end price tiers. Apple is taking nearly two-thirds of the revenue share in the premium ($400 and above) smartphone segment. Further, most of the growth was driven by expansion in the “ultra-premium” price tier of $1000 or more per unit.[1] As we have highlighted in the past, Apple’s relentless focus on the development and integration between hardware (especially integrated circuits) and software continues to add significant value for customers of its products and services. We expect this favorable competitive dynamic to continue for the foreseeable future.”