“Apple Inc. was the second-most frequent stock to appear in hedge funds’ 10-biggest holdings as of the third quarter. And that’s caused quite a bit of pain. For their Apple investments, these funds have received a total return of 0% this year as of Nov. 19, according to Goldman Sachs’s Hedge Fund Trend Monitor,” Saumya Vaishampayan reports for MarketWatch. “The report looked at 783 funds with $1.7 trillion in gross assets.”
“Apple’s 0% total return for the period contrasts starkly with the other returns on the list,” Vaishampayan reports. “The most popular stock among hedge funds was American International Group, which posted a total return of 39%. Google Inc. came in third with a total return of 46%, General Motors Co. came in fourth with a total return of 34% and Citigroup Inc. came in fifth with a total return of 28%.”
“Stepping back, fewer than 5% of hedge funds beat the S&P 500 this year through the third quarter,” Vaishampayan reports. “Hedge funds on average returned 6% in 2013 through Oct. 31, compared with the S&P 500′s 25% in the same period.”
Read more in the full article here.
Let’s see the 5 year numbers.
Right you are. And isn’t AIG basically a financial gambling operation? How long before their “returns” evaporate into some fraudsters annual bonus?
This.
0% return? Idiot analyst is too stupid to be able to calculate dividends which yielded a hair under 2½% in the past year. 2½% may not set the world on fire, but given current interest rates that’s solid.
Who says that the hedge funds hold onto all the stock for the whole year?
We should also remember that they old a lot of stock this time last year which is one of the reasons the stock price tanked. They cashed out after pumped the stock up to $700.
“these funds have received a total return of 0% this year as of Nov. 19”
I’m showing that as of Nov 19, Apple is up 2% ytd. That doesn’t include dividends, which should add another 2+%, for a total return of 4.3%.
right you are
DJIA up 22% YTD. NASDAQ up 32% YTD. Microsoft, YTD is up around 40% in the supposed post-PC era created by Apple. Google is up 48% YTD. Amazon is up 49% YTD. So, Apple is up 2% to 4% which pretty much sucks. Is that supposed to be sarcasm or what? Are those companies that much better than Apple. I don’t see it, but Wall Street does.
What fund wants to be stuck with a clunker like Apple? I’m sure they’re all cursing Apple to hell. Apple stock is totally broken in a thriving market but nobody in the company is willing to take the blame. That’s would seem to be a problem.
Pretty sure there was a 0% YTD return somewhere back in 2006-2008, then the stock shot up, as we all know.
What’s the matter with Apple’s institutional ownership anyway?
Google has 72%, Microsoft has 70% and Amazon has 69% according to Google Finance. Apple has a lousy 61% which seems to mean the institutions are not as interested in Apple as they are in those other high-flying stocks. Early last year Apple had around a 67% ownership before it was dumped like rotten fish. Honestly, for a profitable tech company, Apple is definitely being ignored by the institutions. That would seem like Apple’s fault if you ask me.
What is it with Apple that it can’t get as many institutional investors as those other companies? It’s up to a company to make more attractive to investors and Apple doesn’t seem interested in doing that. I’m guessing there would have to be something other than buybacks that would make the company more attractive. Some article the other day said that more institutions are getting into Apple but based on Google Finance it hasn’t changed much at all since early 2013, not even 1%.
Apple is really disappointing shareholders and investors alike and I’m certain they could do better if they tried especially with all the money that is being thrown around in the market lately.
You are not a AAPL shareholder so why would you care LB troll? I am long AAPL and happy with it.
@Laughing Boy –
“What’s the matter with Apple’s institutional ownership anyway? Google has 72%, Microsoft has 70% and Amazon has 69% according to Google Finance. Apple has a lousy 61% which seems to mean the institutions are not as interested in Apple as they are in those other high-flying stocks.”
You have answered your own question: In recent months the institutions have expressed a preference for high p/e, momentum stocks regardless of their current profits or prospects for the future. That preference is not permanent, but it is how they feel right now.
If Apple wants its shares to be purchased by fundamental, value investors, it needs to do things to “prove” that it is still innovating and will be in business 20 years from today. (I am already persuaded that it will be, but that view is not the consensus.) For example, holding $150 billion in cash and equivalents and not paying dividends signals that the CEO is nervous about Apple’s future. Taking 2 years to introduce a large-screen iPhone undermines confidence in the company’s R&D.