In this article we will take a look at the some of notable stocks on the move today.
On Tuesday, all three major indexes are down with the U.S. consumer confidence index falling 5.9 points to a seven month low of 109.3 in September. Among the stocks also on the move include Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), and Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA). Let’s find out why each stock is moving and how elite funds are positioned among them.
Why do we care about hedge fund activity? Insider Monkey’s research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 86 percentage points since March 2017. Between March 2017 and July 2021 our monthly newsletter’s stock picks returned 186.1%, vs. 100.1% for the SPY. Our stock picks outperformed the market by 86 percentage points (see the details here). That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our homepage to receive our stories in your inbox.
Jeff Bezos of Amazon
10. Amazon.com, Inc. is down 3% due to the broader market weakness. Amazon.com, Inc. is also in the news because it introduced a new smart thermostat and the Astro home robot at its annual hardware event. Although the new products could generate substantial profits in the future if they are successful, Amazon is simply too big for the products to make much of a difference in the near term. Amazon.com, Inc. was the most widely held smart money stock at the end of Q2 according to our database of 873 elite funds, with 271 funds we track owning shares of Amazon. Billionaire Jeff Bezos is a big holder of Amazon as well.
9. Facebook, Inc. is off around 3.5% due to the broader market weakness. Also weighing on shares today could be the news that Facebook, Inc.’s competitor, TikTok, has surpassed 1 billion monthly active users. Although Facebook has substantially more users than TikTok, the company will need to continue to innovate to stay ahead of the competition. Eagle Capital Management raised its position by 7% from the prior quarter to over 7.4 million shares in Facebook, Inc. at the end of June.
8. Microsoft Corporation shares are off 3% due to the weakness in the market. Part of the reason for the decline in Microsoft Corporation could also be due to the weakness in salesforce.com, inc, which is down around 2.2% today. If the market thinks one cloud leader is worth less due to general reasons, some in the market could think other cloud leaders could also be worth less due to relative valuation. 238 out of the 873 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey held a stake in Microsoft Corporation by the end of the first half of this year, with the stake equaling $62.5 billion.
7. The Walt Disney Company is down around 2% due to the market decline and an analyst price target cut. In terms of the price target cut, Steven Cahall of Wells Fargo trimmed his price target on The Walt Disney Company to $203, down from the prior $216 per share. Cahall nevertheless has an ‘Overweight’ rating on The Walt Disney Company, however. 112 funds Insider Monkey tracks owned shares of The Walt Disney Company at the end of Q2.
6. Tesla, Inc. has fallen around 2.5% due to the broader market weakness. Tesla, Inc. is also in the news after Alexander Potter of Piper Sandler predicted that the third quarter will be Tesla’s ‘strongest quarter ever’. Although Potter is bullish, Tesla, Inc. has already rallied substantially over the past few years given strong growth expectations and there could be some profit taking as a result. Catherine D. Wood‘s ARK Investment Management owned more than 5.4 million shares in Tesla, Inc. at the end of June.
Like Amazon.com, Inc., Facebook, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, and Tesla, Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Moderna, Inc. are on the move.
5. Alphabet Inc. has fallen 3.8% due to the broader market weakness. Another headwind for Alphabet Inc. could be the news that TikTok has surpassed 1 billion monthly active users. If more people use TikTok, Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube might not grow as much as it could have.
According to our database of 873 elite funds, Alphabet Inc was one of the top 10 most widely held smart money stocks at the end of Q2.
4. Moderna, Inc. shares are down 3.8% due to the market weakness. Given that Moderna, Inc. has rallied more than 250% year to date, some investors are also probably taking some profits. Renaissance Technologies owned more than 3.18 million shares of Moderna, Inc. at the end of Q2.
3. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) has declined 1.2% along with the market despite the company submitting data to the FDA from a phase 2/3 trial of their COVID-19 vaccine in children aged 5 to 11. Although the news is good for Pfizer, the stock often moves along with its sector, which is down due to the market. The number of elite funds in our database that were long Pfizer Inc. rose to 67 in the second quarter from 65 in the first quarter.
2. Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) has rallied 3.5% as expectations for future demand for oil services have likely strengthened due to the higher oil prices over the past few days. Oil prices have rallied substantially year to date as well. Of the around 873 elite funds in our database, 41 were long Schlumberger Limited at the end of Q2.
1. United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) has surged around 22% after the company forecasted FY2022 adjusted earnings of $3.90-$4.20 per share and revenue of $27.8 billion to $28.3 billion. Both forecasts were better than market estimates. Of the around 873 elite funds in our database, 15 were long United Natural Foods, Inc. at the end of the second quarter.
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This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
