Microsoft, Apple & Actavis Among Hedgies', Mutual Fund's Favorite Stocks

Courtesy of Benzinga.

In a report published Friday, Citigroup analyst Tobias Levkovich offered a glimpse in to what hedge funds and mutual funds are buying and how they are performing.

According to Levkovich, the Equity Hedge Fund Index outperformed the S&P 500 for the first time in over two years. While the S&P 500 rose 11.4 percent in 2014, versus a 1.4 percent gain for the HFRX Equity Hedge index, the first quarter of 2015 saw a reversal as the HFRX index rose 2.2 percent versus the S&P 500's 0.4 percent return.

Levkovich also broke down sector weights of the largest mutual funds and hedge funds as follows:

Sector Allocation Of The Largest 50 Mutual Funds

• Consumer Discretionary – 18.2 percent.
• Health Care – 17.5 percent.
• Information Technology – 16.2 percent.
• Industrials – 15.6 percent.
• Financials – 13.0 percent.
• Energy – 7.1 percent.
• Consumer Staples – 5.2 percent.
• Materials – 3.9 percent.
• Utilities – 1.9 percent.
• Telecommunication Services – 1.3 percent.

Sector Allocation Of The Largest 50 Hedge Funds

• Information Technology – 17.2 percent.
• Health Care – 16.0 percent.
• Consumer Discretionary – 15.2 percent.
• Financials – 13.3 percent.
• Energy – 12.5 percent.
• Industrials – 10.2 percent.
• Consumer Staples – 7.8 percent.
• Materials – 4.7 percent.
• Utilities – 2.3 percent.
• Telecommunication Services – 0.8 percent.

Top Fund Holdings

In terms of individual stocks, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) held on to its title as the most widely held stock among the 50 largest mutual funds with 22 funds reporting a stake in the first quarter, up from 19 in the fourth quarter 2014. Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE: WFC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) both ranked second with 18 funds reporting a stake in the quarter.

Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) ranked third with 17 funds reporting a stake and outranked fourth place Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) which was held by only 15 funds.

The holdings of the top 50 largest hedge funds tell a different story.

Apple tied for the largest held company among hedge funds with 16 funds reporting a stake in the first quarter, up from eight last quarter. Actavis plc (NYSE: ACT) was also held by 16 funds, up from 13 last quarter.

Microsoft also ranked as a top five hedge fund holding with nine funds reporting a stake, good for third largest. Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE: TWC) ranked fourth with eight funds holding shares while Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE: VRX) ranked fifth and was held by seven funds.

Average One-Year Beta

Levkovich noted that the average on-year beta of top holdings among mutual funds measured 1.04 in the first quarter of 2015, above the long-term average of 1.00. On the other hand, the beta of top hedge fund holdings during the first quarter measured 1.08, in line with its historical average.

Posted-In: Citigroup mutual funds Tobias LevkovichAnalyst Color Hedge Funds Analyst Ratings Best of Benzinga