We finally finished processing 13F filings from 817 hedge funds and prominent investors. Our research has shown that one of the best tools for ordinary investors who are on the hunt for new ideas is 13F filings. Once every quarter hedge funds with at least $100 million in total positions in publicly traded US stocks, options, and convertible debt are required to disclose the number of shares and the total value of their positions in each of the stocks and options in their portfolios. We now know which stocks hedge funds were betting on coming out of the coronavirus recession.
Hedge funds hire some of the smartest Ivy League graduates as their analysts, have access to industry insiders whom they “consult” with, unconventional data sources that cost tens of thousands of dollars, years of experience and millions of dollars as incentives to come up with the next great investment idea. Every quarter we process around 800 hedge funds’ 13F filings to identify each hedge fund’s new moves, top stock picks, and more importantly overall sentiment changes towards each of the 4000 stocks that are publicly trading. We publish all of our analysis in our premium quarterly newsletter (download a free sample), and then share interesting bits and pieces on our website.
Earlier today we published the list of 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds. If you are interested in a detailed look at what hedge funds have been trading, follow this link. This article is a condensed version of that original article and focuses on the top 20 stock picks.
The top 10 stocks among hedge funds returned 216% since the end of 2014 and outperformed the S&P 500 Index ETFs by more than 121 percentage points. We know it sounds unbelievable. You have been dismissing our articles about the top hedge fund stocks mostly because you were fed misleading information by other media outlets about hedge funds’ poor performance.
It is true that hedge fund investors, i.e. those people who hand their hard earned dollars to hedge fund managers, underperform because hedge funds charge huge fees and they hedge their bets. Hedge funds also invest in a diversified portfolio of good and bad ideas. By focusing on the top stock picks among all hedge funds, we have been able to identify some of the best stocks to buy in the market for years. The top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds beat the S&P 500 Index by more than 121 percentage points over the last 6 years.
At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. Our best call in 2020 was shorting the market in February when S&P 500 was trading at 3150 after realizing the coronavirus pandemic’s significance before most investors did. We saw the coronavirus crash coming (see this article). We also noticed that the stock market crash will be brief and covered our shorts near the bottom of the market. Over the last 6 months we have been betting on recovery stocks. You can check out our latest free stock recommendation in this article. Keeping this mind, let's now take a look at the 20 best stocks to buy right now according to hedge funds:
Number of Hedge Funds: 82 (2020 Q2) Number of Hedge Funds: 95 (2020 Q3) Total Dollar Amount of Long Hedge Fund Positions:$7.8 billion Percent of Hedge Funds with Long Positions: 11.6% Fourth Quarter Return (through November 23rd): 18.7% Popularity Ranking (2020 Q2): 38 Popularity Ranking (2020 Q1): 44 Noteworthy Hedge Fund Shareholders: Chase Coleman, Kora Management
Number of Hedge Funds: 94 (2020 Q2) Number of Hedge Funds: 100 (2020 Q3) Total Dollar Amount of Long Hedge Fund Positions:$6 billion Percent of Hedge Funds with Long Positions: 12.2% Fourth Quarter Return (through November 23rd): 37.2% Popularity Ranking (2020Q2): 25 Popularity Ranking (2020Q1): 22 Noteworthy Hedge Fund Shareholders: Brad Gerstner, Bill Miller, Chase Coleman
Number of Hedge Funds: 113 (2020 Q2) Number of Hedge Funds: 104 (2020 Q3) Total Dollar Amount of Long Hedge Fund Positions:$12.9 billion Percent of Hedge Funds with Long Positions: 12.7% Fourth Quarter Return (through November 23rd): -4.7% Popularity Ranking (2020 Q2): 13 Popularity Ranking (2020Q1): 16 Noteworthy Hedge Fund Shareholders: Karthik Sarma, Gil Simon
Number of Hedge Funds: 104 (2020 Q2) Number of Hedge Funds: 106 (2020 Q3) Total Dollar Amount of Long Hedge Fund Positions:$10.5 billion Percent of Hedge Funds with Long Positions: 13.0% Fourth Quarter Return (through November 23rd): -6.1% Popularity Ranking (2020 Q2): 19 Popularity Ranking (2020Q1): 14 Noteworthy Hedge Fund Shareholders: Stephen Mandel, Ken Fisher
Number of Hedge Funds: 107 (2020 Q2) Number of Hedge Funds: 106 (2020 Q3) Total Dollar Amount of Long Hedge Fund Positions:$11.1 billion Percent of Hedge Funds with Long Positions: 13% Fourth Quarter Return (through November 23rd): 2.5% Popularity Ranking (2020 Q2): 17 Popularity Ranking (2020Q1): 12 Noteworthy Hedge Fund Shareholders: Ken Fisher, Al Gore
Number of Hedge Funds: 107 (2020 Q2) Number of Hedge Funds: 109 (2020 Q3) Total Dollar Amount of Long Hedge Fund Positions:$19.6 billion Percent of Hedge Funds with Long Positions: 13.3% Fourth Quarter Return (through November 23rd): 7.8% Popularity Ranking (2020 Q2): 16 Popularity Ranking (2020 Q1): 13 Noteworthy Hedge Fund Shareholders: Michael Larson, Boykin Curry
Number of Hedge Funds: 105 (2020 Q2) Number of Hedge Funds: 112 (2020 Q3) Total Dollar Amount of Long Hedge Fund Positions:$9 billion Percent of Hedge Funds with Long Positions: 13.7% Fourth Quarter Return (through November 23rd): 17.6% Popularity Ranking (2020 Q2): 18 Popularity Ranking (2020 Q1): 20 Noteworthy Hedge Fund Shareholders: Donald Yacktman, Daniel Sundheim
Number of Hedge Funds: 96 (2020 Q2) Number of Hedge Funds: 113 (2020 Q3) Total Dollar Amount of Long Hedge Fund Positions:$6.7 billion Percent of Hedge Funds with Long Positions: 13.8% Fourth Quarter Return (through November 23rd): 18.1% Popularity Ranking (2020 Q2): 24 Popularity Ranking (2020 Q1): 28 Noteworthy Hedge Fund Shareholders: Paul Reeder and Gabriel Plotkin
Number of Hedge Funds: 123 (2020 Q2) Number of Hedge Funds: 118 (2020 Q3) Total Dollar Amount of Long Hedge Fund Positions:$6.1 billion Percent of Hedge Funds with Long Positions: 14.4% Fourth Quarter Return (through November 23rd): 23.6% Popularity Ranking (2020 Q2): 12 Popularity Ranking (2020 Q1): 15 Noteworthy Hedge Fund Shareholders: Daniel Sundheim, Andreas Halvorsen
From calling Bitcoin a "Fraud" to possibly issuing their own stablecoin, JPMorgan's take on cryptocurrencies shows the classic signs of tech adoption over the years – If you can’t beat them, join them.
Number of Hedge Funds: 136 (2020 Q2) Number of Hedge Funds: 124 (2020 Q3) Total Dollar Amount of Long Hedge Fund Positions:$7.6 billion Percent of Hedge Funds with Long Positions: 15.2% Fourth Quarter Return (through November 23rd): 3.5% Popularity Ranking (2020 Q2): 10 Popularity Ranking (2020 Q1): 9 Noteworthy Hedge Fund Shareholders: Jim Simons, Warren Buffett
