MW Tesla was hot, Apple was not, hedge-fund filings show

By Jamie Chisholm

Tesla Inc. was back among the top hedge-fund holdings late last year, while Apple Inc. was one of the most "unpopular" stocks, according to a summary of the industry's positions.

Pictet, the Swiss private bank, combed through 2024 fourth-quarter 13F filings of 1,143 based hedge funds to gauge what the big managers have been up to. The Securities and Exchange Commission requires institutional investment managers to file quarterly Form 13F reports that list equity assets under management

In a note published Wednesday, Pictet observed that one of the biggest sectoral moves over the period was a 1.1% reduction in hedge funds' exposure to healthcare.

This came "potentially as a consequence of perceived sector risk associated with the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services," Pictet said. However, the funds remained most overweight in healthcare.

The funds increased their exposure to communication and technology sectors by 0.6%, though they remain most underweight in the latter.

"The major tech names remain well-represented among the 25 largest holdings, ranked by market value in the table below, due to their significant index weightings," Pictet said.

The tech names included are Microsoft Corp. $(MSFT)$, Alphabet Inc. $(GOOGL)$ $(GOOG)$, Amazon.com Inc. $(AMZN)$, Nvidia Corp. $(NVDA)$, Apple $(AAPL)$ and Meta Platforms Inc. $(META)$. Most notably, after being absent from the top 25 for several quarters in a row, Tesla $(TSLA)$ returned at No. 13, after hedge funds increased their aggregate holdings by 27%, according to Pictet.

Stocks that saw the biggest increase in holdings across the hedge fund sector included beleaguered aircraft-maker Boeing Co. $(BA)$, up 320%, and insurance company Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. $(AJG)$, up 717%, as both companies' stocks attracted investments from several hedge funds.

A screening of the most "unpopular" stocks, based on the number of hedge funds that completely sold them off their books, includes Apple. The iPhone maker saw Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway $(BRK.B)$ $(BRK.A)$ add approximately $5 billion to its holding in the fourth quarter, but at the same time three hedge-fund managers fully dumped their Apple holdings, totaling $1.5 billion, according to Pictet.

Four hedge funds sold off their GE Vernova Inc. $(GEV.AU)$ holdings, raising $1.2 billion in the process.

Pictet also looked at what were the most successful hedge-fund bets over the period. "Cryptocurrency strategies, which had struggled in the third quarter (worst performer), emerged as the standout performers in the fourth, boasting a remarkable 33% return," said Pictet. The success reflects the surge in Bitcoin to record highs following the election of President Trump.

Commodity hedge strategies also fared well, up nearly 6%, while long equity was the worst performer with a 1.7% decline.

-Jamie Chisholm

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February 19, 2025 09:27 ET (14:27 GMT)

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