Facebook Inc (FB) Now The 14th Most Widely-Held Stock Among Institutions

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Facebook is climbing the success ladder at a fast pace and recently landed among the top 15 most widely-held stocks by institutional equity investors. According to eVestment, this means now more funds own Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shares than household names like Home Depot, Pepsi and Exxon Mobil.

Facebook (FB) attracting smart money

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s stellar performance is primarily the reason for its growing popularity among investors. At the end of 2014, it was at the 35th position, and it rose to 23rd in September and then to 16th in December. More than 65,000 institutional portfolios are tracked by eVestment.

Some major shuffling took place at the top of the list as well, with Microsoft acquiring the 2nd spot, surpassing Apple. eVestment has been publishing this report for the past two years, and for the first time, Apple fell out of the top two. Google’s parent Alphabet continued to be at the top of the list. These three companies have remained at the top of the list for every quarter of eVestment’s reporting.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s rank has been rising each quarter. The company’s user base is maturing continuously, helping the ownership profile of the stock to become an institution-friendly name. Now it remains to be seen how far up the rankings Facebook can go. Does the stock have the potential to reach the top three like other major tech names, or will it settle in somewhere lower?

Other notable winners and losers

In another shift in the top five, JPMorgan Chase lost its spot to Johnson & Johnson. Energy names saw a boost in ownership, in-line with the gain in their stock prices. For example, ExxonMobil landed in the top 20 list once again.

Several big pharma names such as Gilead, McKesson and Regeneron were included in the biggest losers among large-cap growth stocks. Two tech firms, LinkedIn and Tableau Software, were among the top five losers for the quarter. Microsoft, Adobe and McDonald’s were among the biggest winners if we focus on the institutions that own large-cap U.S. growth equities. All of them saw a big increase in ownership, while McDonald’s in particular saw an increase of 9.2% for the quarter.

On Monday, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shares closed up 0.27% at $118.79. Year to date, the stock is up almost 12%, while in the last year, it is up almost 45%. The stock has a 52-week high of $135.60 and a 52-week low of $72.

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