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Akin Oyedele
2015-02-23T21:46:00Z
Hedge funds can't live without Apple.
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"As the most popular hedge fund long holding and largest US stock, Apple is a key driver of hedge fund performance as well as US equity earnings growth and returns," wrote Goldman Sachs' Ben Snider in the latest Hedge Fund Trend Monitor.
The list is based on Goldman's analysis of 688 hedge funds, who hold $882 billion in equity assets that own between 10 and 200 individual stock positions.
The stocks are ranked by the number of hedge funds that hold the stock among their top 10 holdings,from least to most widely held.
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Charter Communications
Ticker: CHTR
Sub-sector: Cable & Satellite
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 27
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 36%
Comment: Video added the most to the cable company's revenue in 2014, increasing 8.1% to $1.13 billion year-over-year.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Micron Technology
Ticker: MU
Sub-sector: Semiconductors
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 28
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 18%
Comment: Micron entered a partnership with Seagate to use each other's expertise to build storage devices that are faster and cheaper, as hard drive sales decline industry-wide.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Time Warner Cable
Ticker: TWC
Sub-sector: Cable & Satellite
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 29
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 17%
Comment: The $45-billion purchase of Time Warner Cable by Comcast cleared a hurdle February 13, after an administrative law judge in San Francisco recommended that the Public Utilities Commission endorse the deal.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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DIRECTV
Ticker: DTV
Sub-sector: Cable & Satellite
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 29
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 18%
Comment: "Of course, our top priority in 2015 is to successfully close the merger with AT&T and also ensure we'll be ready to hit the ground running as a combined business with compelling bundled offers and services on customer day 1," CEO Michael White said during the Q4 2014 earnings call.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Delta Air Lines
Ticker: DAL
Sub-sector: Airlines
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 29
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 11%
Comment: Delta Airlines' 80,000 global employees will receive $1.1 billion in profit sharing: The largest in the company's history.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Citigroup
Ticker: C
Sub-sector: Diversified Banks
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 29
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 3%
Comment: Citigroup is in the process of selling its consumer lending unit, OneMain Financial Inc., to subprime lender Springleaf Holdings for over $4 billion, according to a report.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Yahoo!
Ticker: YHOO
Sub-sector: Internet Software & Services
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 30
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 12%
Comment: Yahoo entered a five-year partnership with Mozilla to make its search engine the default in Firefox instead of Google's — "the most significant partnership for Yahoo in five years," according to the company.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Microsoft
Ticker: MSFT
Sub-sector: Systems Software
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 31
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 2%
Comment: Microsoft is aggressively expanding its share of the mobile market and has acquired several companies in recent months including Sunrise, a calendar app, and Accompli, an email app.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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General Motors
Ticker: GM
Sub-sector: Automobile Manufacturers
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 31
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 6%
Comment:GM's net profit jumped 22% year-over-year in the fourth quarter to $1.1 billion, amid several lawsuits related to the recall of over 30 million vehicles.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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AIG
Ticker: AIG
Sub-sector: Multi-line Insurance
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 32
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 7%
Comment: AIG's profits tanked 67% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, missing estimates. Its shares fell in after-hours trading after the release.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Liberty Global
Ticker: LBTYK
Sub-sector: Cable & Satellite
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 34
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 23%
Comment: "Last month, Liberty Global acquired around 6.4% of ITV plc, the largest commercial TV broadcaster in the U.K., from British Sky Broadcasting Group plc for a total consideration of GBP 481 million (around $824 million)," according to Zacks.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Valeant Pharmaceuticals
Ticker: VRX
Sub-sector: Pharmaceuticals
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 38
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 26%
Comment: Valeant is acquiring Salix Pharmaceuticals, a gastrointestinal drugmaker, for about $10.1 billion in cash, the companies announced Sunday. The stock traded around 13% higher on Monday.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Medtronic
Ticker: MDT
Sub-sector: Health Care Equipment
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 39
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 13%
Comment:Medtronic finalized its $42.9 billion acquisition of Covidien PLC in January, and will spin off the company to focus on medical supplies.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Ticker: FB
Sub-sector: Internet Software & Services
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 41
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 5%
Comment:CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the following to Bloomberg about Internet.org, Facebook's initiative to connect two thirds of the world to the internet: "It’s probably not going to be a place where it’s going to be particularly profitable in the near term. In fact, we’ll probably lose a bunch of money."
Source: Goldman Sachs
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American Airlines
Ticker: AAL
Sub-sector: Airlines
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 42
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 13%
Comment: "Our record 2014 results close out a fantastic first year for our merger [with US Airways]," CEO Doug Parker said in the Q4 2014 earnings statement. Net profits surged 153% year-over-year to a record $1.1 billion during the quarter.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Allergan
Ticker: AGN
Sub-sector: Pharmaceuticals
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 56
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 33%
Comment:Pharmaceutical company Actavis announced plans to sell $8.4 billion in shares to fund its acquisition of Allergan, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Actavis
Ticker: ACT
Sub-sector: Pharmaceuticals
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 59
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 19%
Comment:Actavis will change its name to Allergan after the planned $66 billion takeover, to focus on patented drugs, Reuters reported.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Apple
Ticker: AAPL
Sub-sector: Technology Hardware Storage & Peripherals
No. of funds with stock as top 10 holding: 82
% of equity cap owned by hedge funds: 3%
Comment: Apple reportedly has hundreds of people secretly developing an electric car, and has poached dozens of employees from the auto industry.
Source: Goldman Sachs
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Now that you know what hedge funds are doing
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