Microsoft went on a tremendous tear in the second half of last year, soaring by roughly 20% to make it one of the most crowded large-cap names of last year. Unsurprisingly, tech names make up a sizable chunk of the large-cap portion of Credit Suisse’s Jan. 4 report and list entitled “The Darlings of Active Managers,” which includes the most crowded names among small-, mid- and large-cap funds in the U.S.
Microsoft tops the large-cap list
It is quite interesting that Microsoft managed to land at the top of the list, even coming out ahead of Apple. According to data from Credit Suisse, 380 large-cap funds held shares of the cloud and IT giant. Despite the large number, it’s still six fewer large-cap funds that held Microsoft shares in the second quarter of last year.
In second place on the list was Apple; the only surprise here is that Microsoft came out ahead of the iPhone maker on this list. Credit Suisse reports that 374 large-cap funds held Apple shares in the fourth quarter, which is the same number of funds that held them in the second quarter of last year.
Three of the four FANG names make the list
Credit Suisse said the third most popular name on their list of large-cap “darlings” was Google parent Alphabet, with 358 funds holding its shares during the fourth quarter. The firm said 17 more funds picked up Alphabet shares between the second and fourth quarters of last year.
Alphabet wasn’t the only one of the FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google/ Alphabet) to make the list. In fact, the only one that wasn’t on the list was Netflix, as just 64 large-cap funds held shares of the streaming firm as of the third quarter. Credit Suisse said 259 large-cap funds held Facebook stock, while 232 funds owned shares of Amazon.
Other big names on the large-cap darlings list include JPMorgan Chase in fourth place, Wells Fargo, Cisco Systems, Home Depot, Visa, Comcast, Pepsi and Verizon.
Most S&P 500 funds own Microsoft, Apple
Microsoft was also listed as a key holding of institutional investors, with 71% of S&P 500 funds holding shares and 50% of S&P 500 funds being overweight on it. Credit Suisse reported that 75% of S&P 500 funds hold shares of Apple and 37% are overweight on Apple. Sixty-nine percent hold shares of Alphabet, while 52% are overweight on it. Forty-seven percent of S&P 500 funds hold Facebook shares, while 30% are overweight on it, and 41% own Amazon, while 32% are overweight on it.
Looking specifically at large-cap growth managers, Alphabet topped the list of favorites, followed by Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Visa and Microsoft.
