The 13F filings for the biggest hedge funds are in, and FactSet has released its quarterly wrap-up of those filings. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the big winner this time around. However, the firm speculates that hedge funds might flip on it yet again in the current quarter because activist investor Carl Icahn has dropped his push for the company to dramatically increase its share repurchase plan.
Apple among stocks with largest increase in exposure
Overall, the 50 biggest hedge funds increased their exposure to equities by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Exposure to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) increased the most, as Coatue Management, Icahn Associates and Citadel Advisors made half-billion dollar purchases. Icahn did tweet about a couple more half-billion dollar purchases of Apple last month, but of course those are excluded from this report because they happened during the current quarter. A couple of other companies which also received significant new interest in the fourth quarter are Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) and Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE:CCI).
At the end of the fourth quarter, 27 funds held shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), while 26 held Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and 22 held Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Class A shares. Thirty-one of them held shares of Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN), and 29 held shares of Thermo Fischer Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO). Other notable mentions include Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD), which has been facing activist pressure recently, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), and QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM). Here’s the full list.
13F: Air Products also sees big increases
FactSet also examined the biggest holding value changes for the quarter and found that in addition to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) and Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE:CCI), the other companies with the biggest increases included Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) and Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C)
In terms of new positions, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) was the highest new position among hedge funds. Other notable new position during the quarter was Fannie Mae (OTCQB:FNMA). Here’s the full list.
And here’s a look at the top 50 hedge funds, according to FactSet. They are listed with their top holdings and their gains during the quarter. As you can see, Apple Inc. (NASDAQAAPL) appears a lot.
