They say on Wall Street that if you want to make a small fortune, start by investing a large one.
The billionaires and big-time money managers below all have fortunes of various sizes, and studying which stock picks they've chased with their capital ain't a half-bad idea. After all, there's a reason why the rich get richer.
No, you can't become a billionaire solely by copying their every move, but it's always interesting - and often constructive - to know what the "smart money" is up to. Their resources for research, as well as their intimate connections to insiders and others, can give them a unique insight into their stock picks.
Here are 50 top stock picks of the billionaire class. In all cases, these companies represent major holdings (5% or more) of at least one ultra-wealthy person or large hedge fund, if not several. In many cases, these stocks are owned by multiple billionaires. And while several of these investments are popular blue chips, others keep a much lower profile.
SEE ALSO: 20 Best Stocks to Buy Now for the Next Bull Market
AdobeMarket value: $170.4 billion
Billionaire investor: Suvretta Capital Management
Percent of portfolio: 7.4%
Adobe (ADBE, $353.64) has always had little competition in creating software for designers and other creative types. Photoshop, for example, is so popular that it's often used generically to refer to any program that can edit and manipulate graphics.
But the company took a massive step a few years ago when it migrated its vast portfolio of offerings to the cloud - a move that still is paying off in spades. More recently, in late 2018, it moved into business-to-business marketing when it completed its acquisition of Marketo.
Suvretta Capital Management, with $4.5 billion in assets under management (AUM), is among several big-money managers that have Adobe among their top stock picks. In fact, Chief Investment Officer Aaron Cowen has made ADBE the hedge fund's single-largest holding, accounting for more than 7% of its portfolio.
SEE ALSO: 64 Dividend Stocks You Can Count On
ADTMarket value: $4.4 billion
Billionaire investor: Leon Black (Apollo Global Management)
Percent of portfolio: 48.9%
ADT (ADT, $5.73), which provides home alarm and security systems for homes and businesses, has something most investors adore: a subscription business. Customers send checks like clockwork to maintain their service. Billing ranges from $36.99 to $52.99 a month.
A predictable cash stream is just one of the company's attractive attributes. Safehome.org gives the company high marks: "Reliable systems backed by outstanding service. It's no wonder ADT is a household name with 7 million customers and counting. When you're ready for the big guns in home security, you go with ADT." Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Market Intelligence, meanwhile, have an average recommendation of Buy on ADT.
The company did shrink recently, however, selling off its Canadian operations in late 2019 to focus on higher-margin opportunities in the U.S. market.
ADT dominates the other stock picks held in Billionaire Leon Black's Apollo Management Holdings, a subsidiary of Apollo Global Management (APO). Apollo Management Holdings has a whopping 48.9% of its portfolio socked away in ADT. Black arranged to buy ADT in 2016 for about $7 billion.
SEE ALSO: 25 Blue Chips With Brawny Balance Sheets
Alibaba GroupMarket value: $543.7 billion
Billionaire investor: Joseph Tsai
Percent of portfolio: 100%
Jack Ma is probably the most famous billionaire from China. The founder of Alibaba (BABA, $202.67) created an e-commerce giant that propelled his net worth to truly stratospheric levels. Forbes puts his wealth at $42 billion.
Less well-known but plenty rich himself is Joseph Tsai. The Canadian billionaire who was born in Taiwan is the vice chairman and co-founder of BABA. Jack Ma may have been Alibaba's public face, but Tsai was no less important behind the scenes.
Tsai famously accepted an initial salary of just $50 a month when he first met Jack Ma in 1999.
In addition to owning 3.4% of BABA's shares outstanding, Tsai also is the owner of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets. Forbes says Tsai's net worth comes to $10.9 billion.
SEE ALSO: The 10 Best Chinese Stocks You Can Buy
AlphabetMarket value: $925.8 billion
Billionaire investor: Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb
Percent of portfolio: 16.6%
William Ruane and Richard Cunniff, of Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, which boasts $8 billion in AUM, own a slew of Google-parent Alphabet's (GOOGL, $1,346.70) stock. Between ownership of both Class A GOOGL and Class C GOOG shares, the hedge fund sits on 1 million shares worth $135 million.
Taken together, the Google stakes come to nearly 17% of the fund's total value. Shares in GOOGL have declined 12.6% from the market top in February vs. a drop of 13.6% for the S&P 500.
Retail investors might be more familiar with the mutual fund simply called Sequoia (SEQUX), which allows smaller investors to benefit from Ruane's and Cunniff's investing acumen.
SEE ALSO: 11 Best Tech Stocks for the New Coronavirus Norm
Amazon.comMarket value: $1.23 trillion
Billionaire investor: Eagle Capital Management
Percent of portfolio: 5.3%
When it comes to billionaire investors in Amazon.com (AMZN, $2,474.00), the first name that should come to mind is that of CEO Jeff Bezos. The world's richest man is worth $149 billion, according to Forbes. Even after his divorce from ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos, the AMZN founder is still the e-commerce giant's top shareholder, with 11.1% of its shares outstanding.
Naturally, a long list of hedge fund investors will have a company as massive and successful as AMZN among their top stock picks. Among those that stick out is Eagle Capital Management. Managing director Ravenel Boykin Curry IV has committed 5.3% of the fund's portfolio to AMZN. Eagle Capital Management's holdings in Amazon are currently worth about $2.2 billion.
Analysts expect Amazon to generate average annual earnings growth of 36% over the next three to five years. They're also overwhelmingly bullish on the stock, with 32 Buys, 1 Hold and 1 Sell over the past three months.
SEE ALSO: Every Warren Buffett Stock Ranked: The Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio
American ExpressMarket value: $73.5 billion
Billionaire investor: Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)
Percent of portfolio: 7.8%
Warren Buffett likes to say that his preferred holding period is forever, and that's about how long he has had a stake in American Express (AXP, $91.25).
Buffett picked up his initial stake in the credit card company in 1963, when a struggling AmEx badly needed capital. Berkshire obliged, getting favorable terms on its investment.
Berkshire owns 151.6 million shares in the Dow Jones Industrial Average component, worth about $13.8 billion today. That makes the holding company AXP's largest shareholder with 18.8% of its shares outstanding.
AmEx is not small potatoes to Warren Buffett either, seeing as it accounts for 7.8% of Berkshire Hathaway's equity stock picks.
SEE ALSO: 20 Top Stocks to Invest In During a Recession
American International GroupMarket value: $21.9 billion
Billionaire investor: Steve Cohen (Point72 Europe)
Percent of portfolio: 8.4%
Once upon a time, American International Group (AIG, $25.43) was an insurance industry behemoth and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
But the Great Recession changed everything. If not for a $182 billion bailout, AIG would have gone bust - and brought much of the global financial system with it.
Today, AIG remains one of the world's largest insurers, with business in general life, auto, home, business and travel insurance. The company also sells retirement products like fixed and variable annuities. And if that weren't enough, AIG has a financial services and an asset management business.
Billionaire Steve Cohen, who Forbes estimates is worth $14 billion, has a sizable stake in the insurer by way of Point72 Europe. Cohen's SAC Capital hedge fund was forced to shut down in 2013 because of insider trading.
SEE ALSO: 19 Dividend Aristocrats That Have Gone on Deep Discount
Ameriprise FinancialMarket value: $14.1 billion
Billionaire investor: Lyrical Asset Management
Percent of portfolio: 5.2%
Lyrical Asset Management ($6.8 billion in AUM) was founded in 2008 by Andrew Wellington and Jeff Keswin. Although it doesn't have a long lineage, the fund is old school in its approach. Lyrical pursues a buy-and-hold strategy that limits the fund's total trades to only a handful per year. Keswin and Wellington want to hold positions for the long haul.
Ameriprise Financial (AMP, $114.94) represents one such bet. The fund first invested in the diversified financial services company in the fourth quarter of 2011. Today, AMP accounts for more than 5% of Lyrical's portfolio.
AMP has taken its lumps like the rest of the market since it topped out in February. Longer term, however, it has been a solid holding. Shares are up 213% over the past 10 years on a total return basis (price plus dividends). The S&P 500's total return comes to 202% over the same span.
That outperformance is in part thanks to AMP's 3.4% dividend yield, which represents a decent income stream for new investors.
SEE ALSO: 25 Dividend Stocks the Analysts Love the Most
AmyrisMarket value: $442.5 million
Billionaire investor: John Doerr
Percent of portfolio: 45.8%
John Doerr, the investor and venture capitalist, is best known as chairman of Kleiner Perkins, which has been called Silicon Valley's most famous investment firm. Forbes puts his wealth at $8.6 billion, which means he can strike on his own when he wishes.
That's the case with Amyris (AMRS, $2.70), which develops sustainable ingredients and chemicals for the beauty, health and fragrances and flavors industries. Doerr is the company's top shareholder with almost 36% of AMRS's shares outstanding.
This small-cap stock pick doesn't get a lot of attention from Wall Street, but the two analysts who do track it are bullish. Meanwhile, AMRS is forecast to report its first-ever profit in 2021 after racking up annual net losses every year since 2010.
SEE ALSO: Where Is the Stock Market Headed? 14 Wall Street Pros Sound Off
AppleMarket value: $1.29 trillion
Billionaire investor: Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)
Percent of portfolio: 29.8%
Warren Buffett never much liked technology stocks, but he has fallen head over heels for Apple (AAPL, $293.80). Indeed, at nearly 30%, AAPL is the single largest holding in Berkshire Hathaway's equity portfolio. And that's after Buffett trimmed roughly 3.7 million shares during Q4 2019.
The Oracle of Omaha took his first bite in early 2016 and decided he liked the taste of the iPhone maker.
"I do not focus on the sales in the next quarter or the next year," Buffett has said. "I focus on the ... hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of people who practically live their lives by (the iPhone)."
With more than 250 million shares, Berkshire is Apple's third-largest shareholder after Vanguard and BlackRock - giants of the passively managed index fund universe. Buffett, with a net worth of roughly $74 billion, according to Forbes, owns 16% of Berkshire Hathaway's shares outstanding.
SEE ALSO: 15 Super-Safe Dividend Stocks to Buy Now
Bausch Health CompaniesMarket value: $6.4 billion
Billionaire investor: John Paulson (Paulson & Co.)
Percent of portfolio:
Bausch Health Companies (BHC, $18.12) used to be known as Valeant Pharmaceuticals, and it would be happy if investors forgot that. A massive debt load, allegations of improper accounting and other controversies caused the stock to collapse in 2015.
BHC has since undergone an overhaul, and John Paulson, billionaire owner of hedge fund Paulson & Co. ($4.6 billion in AUM), is a big believer in the remade entity.
True, Paulson was a large stakeholder in 2015, before the company completely fell apart. Perhaps he should get credit for sticking to his guns. BHC is Paulson & Co.'s largest position, accounting for 13.5% of its portfolio. Shares are down 23% over the past 52 weeks, but analysts' average recommendation is Buy, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Paulson's fund owns 5.9% of BHC's shares outstanding, worth about $378 million.
Baxter InternationalMarket value: $45.0 billion
Billionaire investor: Daniel Loeb (Third Point)
Percent of portfolio: 16.7%
Hedge-fund billionaire Daniel Loeb is known for making big bets. He's certainly put a lot of money at the mercy of Baxter International (BAX, $88.78) stock.
His Third Point fund's 17.5 million shares of the medical equipment outfit are collectively worth more than $1.5 billion. As of the fourth quarter, BAX was the fund's top holding, accounting for 16.7% of its total value.
Furthermore, Third Point is Baxter's fifth largest investor with 3.5% of its shares outstanding.
Loeb first disclosed his position in Baxter in August 2015. He has sold more than half of his original 38 million shares quite profitably, and the remaining stake continues to do well. BAX is up 17% over the past 52 weeks on a price basis, vs. a 1% loss for the S&P 500.
SEE ALSO: 10 Health and Pharmaceutical Companies Fighting the Coronavirus
Berkshire HathawayMarket value: $454.9 billion
Billionaire investor: Bill and Melinda Gates (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust)
Percent of portfolio: 53%
Warren Buffett is the best-known billionaire owner of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B, $187.36) stock, but he's not the only one. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust - created by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda - has more than half of its portfolio concentrated in Buffett's baby.
Gates - worth $105.6 billion, according to Forbes - sits on Berkshire's board of directors. His foundation trust owns 49.9 million of the holding company's shares, worth $9.3 billion today.
Other top stock picks of the Gates Foundation Trust include Dow components Caterpillar (CAT) and Walmart (WMT).
Brink'sMarket value: $2.6 billion
Billionaire investor: P2 Capital Partners
Percent of portfolio: 10.7%
P2 Capital Partners manages securities worth just $1.4 billion, but then it doesn't need to build big stakes to get what it wants. As an activist investor, the hedge fund needs only to own enough shares outstanding to force changes it deems necessary at its target companies.
CEO and founder Claus Jorgen Moller maintains a highly concentrated portfolio with just 16 positions. In addition to Brink's, major P2 Capital holdings include Nexstar Media (NXST), Acadia Healthcare (ACHC) and Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV).
As for Brink's Co. (BCO, $51.12), P2 holds about 1.6 million shares, or about 3.3% of the company's shares outstanding. That stake currently is worth about $84 million. Stock in the private security and protection company are off by more than a third over the past year.
SEE ALSO: The Kip 25: The Best Low-Fee Mutual Funds You Can Buy
Bristol-Myers SquibbMarket value: $137.6 billion
Billionaire investor: Jim Simons (Renaissance Technologies)
Percent of portfolio: 3.0%
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY, $60.81) is popular with analysts and happens to be one of the 50 best stocks of all time.
The pharmaceutical giant also happens to be the single largest holding of Jim Simons' Renaissance Technologies hedge fund ($139 billion in AUM).
Although we normally require stock picks to account for at least 5% of a fund's holdings, we're making an exception in this case. As the world's 36th richest man, worth $21.6 billion, it's interesting to know which stock is his biggest bet.
Besides, Renaissance maintains a highly diversified portfolio. No individual stock is ever going to contribute an outsized slice of the fund's value. Renaissance's top 10 holdings account for 12.7% of the portfolio. The remainder is distributed among hundreds of stocks.
The fund's 60.2 million shares, worth $3.7 billion, equate to 2.7% of BMY's shares outstanding.
Caesars EntertainmentMarket value: $6.6 billion
Billionaire investor: Carl Icahn
Percent of portfolio: 6%
More than one of activist billionaire investor Carl Icahn's holdings are getting hammered by the pandemic-led recession. Among them is Caesars Entertainment (CZR, $9.66), which operates Caesars Palace, Bally's, Harrah's and other casinos.
Hotels and casinos are among the very hardest hit businesses by the lockdown, and CZR is no exception. Shares are down 29% so far this year vs. a drop of 10% for the S&P 500. The Las Vegas casino company has furloughed workers, but that's no substitute for revenue, which has dried up.
Caesars accounts for 6% of Icahn's portfolio, and the stake is worth about $1.1 billion. Icahn also is CZR's single largest shareholder, with almost 17% of its shares outstanding.
SEE ALSO: 13 Stock Picks Getting Hit by Coronavirus Fears
Campbell SoupMarket value: $15.1 billion
Billionaire investor: 6.9%
Percent of portfolio: Daniel Loeb (Third Point)
Campbell Soup (CPB, $49.98) has proven to be a (cough) canny investment this year. Shares in companies that make foods with long shelf lives have proven to be winners during a time in much of the world is sheltering at home because of COVID-19.
Billionaire hedge fund macher Daniel Loeb first disclosed his stake in the soup company in August 2018. His Third Point hedge fund disclosed that it spent about $686.4 million to acquire a 5.65% position. Today, Third Point owns 4.1% of CPB's shares outstanding.
Third Point is known as an activist investor, but there's nothing like a global pandemic to light a fire under shares in packaged food and other consumer staples. CPB is up nearly 5% since the market top in February. The S&P 500 is down 13% since then.
Market value: $116.0 billion
Billionaire investor: Alexandre Behring (3G Capital Partners)
Percent of portfolio: 17.2%
Charter Communications (CHTR, $495.23) is just one of the major holdings of 3G Capital Partners, a hedge fund within 3G Capital. And Alexandre Behring is just one of 3G Capital's billionaires. Behring, with a net worth of $5.9 billion, works alongside fellow billionaires Jorge Paulo Lemann ($14.1 billion), Marcel Telles ($8.7 billion) and Carlos Alberto Sicupira ($6.7 billion).
The Brazilian-American firm (AUM of $31.3 billion) holds 238,368 shares worth about $118 million within its 3G Capital Partners hedge fund; it's third largest among the fund's stock picks after Comcast (CMCSA) and Fox Corp. (FOXA).
3G Capital has made its mark on the capital markets in a big way. In 2015, it partnered with Berkshire Hathaway to create Kraft Heinz (KHC) by combining H.J. Heinz and Kraft Foods Group; its 3G Global Food Holdings currently owns 20% of KHC's shares outstanding. Earlier in its history, it purchased Burger King in 2010, and four years later merged it with Tim Hortons.
SEE ALSO: The 20 Best ETFs to Buy for a Prosperous 2020
Chipotle Mexican GrillMarket value: $24.4 billion
Billionaire investor: 15.2%
Percent of portfolio: Bill Ackman (Pershing Square Capital)
Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital can take a bow over this stock pick.
Five years ago, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG, $878.55) was laid low by several outbreaks of foodborne illness, including two E. coli outbreaks that sickened 60 people. It wasn't clear at the time that the fast-casual restaurant chain could mount a comeback in the age of social media. Shares lost about two-thirds of their value from their pre-crisis level to a 2018 low.
But hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman was greedy where others were fearful, stocking up on CMG with almost 10% of its shares outstanding. The Tex-Mex eatery rebounded, then rebounded some more; the stock has shot up nearly 250% since its early 2018 low.
Pershing Square remains a top-five shareholder in CMG to this day, holding 1.2 million shares worth about $1.1 billion.
CignaMarket value: $72.8 billion
Billionaire investor: Leon Cooperman
Percent of portfolio: 6.1%
Hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman net worth is $3.2 billion, per Forbes, stemming from his Omega Advisors hedge fund. In 2016 Cooperman closed Omega and converted it to a family office.
One of the most prominent stocks in his private wealth management firm is Cigna (CI, $195.78), which has held up pretty well so far in 2020. Shares in the health insurance company are down 4% for the year-to-date vs. a decline of 10% for the S&P 500. That's got to be something of a relief for Cooperman considering CI accounts for more than 6% of the value of his holdings.
Cooperman also has a stake in UnitedHealth Group (UNH), a health insurance company and component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
SEE ALSO: Investing in Gold: 10 Facts You Need to Know
CitigroupMarket value: $101.1 billion
Billionaire investor: ValueAct Holdings
Percent of portfolio:
ValueAct Holdings ($13.9 billion in AUM) maintains a fairly concentrated portfolio of just 25 stocks. Citigroup (C, $48.56), the nation's fourth largest bank by assets under management, is its largest position by a decent margin.
Almost 22% of the value of the fund's holdings are held in C stock. Citigroup's wager of 27 million shares is currently worth $1.3 billion.
Citigroup is perennially among the hedge fund crowd's top stock picks. A money-center bank with a massive market value, share liquidity and central place in the financial system will almost always be popular among professional asset allocators. The 4.2% yield on the dividend is another plus.
Analysts' average recommendation in the name is Buy, although its long-term growth rate is forecast to hit only 1.1% over the next three to five years.
Market value: $63.9 billion
Billionaire investor: Prana Capital Management
Percent of portfolio: 5.5%
Prana Capital Management is a small but feisty competitor in the hedge fund industry. It has just four clients and assets under management (AUM) of only $613 million.
It's a smaller fund, but it's not afraid to take on relatively concentrated positions. It also embraces volatility, which is something most investors could do without.
CME Group (CME, $178.21) represents a significant position for Prana, taking up more than 5% of the value of its holdings. CME owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade and New York Mercantile Exchange, among other exchanges.
CME stock is getting beaten up like the rest of the market these days, but it has an enviable longer-term track record. Shares have roughly doubled over the past five years against a gain of 40% for the S&P 500.
SEE ALSO: 33 Major U.S. Companies Hiring Now to Meet Coronavirus Demand
CVR EnergyMarket value: $2.4 billion
Billionaire investor: Carl Icahn
Percent of portfolio: 11%
Activist billionaire investor Carl Icahn's largest holding is Icahn Enterprises (IEP), his publicly traded investment vehicle. After IEP, however, comes CVR Energy (CVI, $23.85), which is in the oil refining and nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing business.
Icahn, who took control of CVI in 2012 by means of a hostile takeover, might come to regret winning that battle given what's happening to the energy business today. Oil prices have collapsed, leaving no corner of the sector untouched.
Indeed, CVI is off nearly 50% over the past 52 weeks vs. a slight decline for the broader market.
Delta Air LinesMarket value: $16.5 billion
Billionaire investor: Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)
Percent of portfolio: 1.7%
Airline stocks are among the highest-profile losers amid the coronavirus lockdown. Shares in Delta Air Lines (DAL, $25.91) have lost more than half their value so far this year and are primed for further losses.
That's bad news for Warren Buffett, who shocked long-time Buffettologists when he took stakes in a number of major airline stock picks - Delta included - in 2016. The Oracle had long criticized the industry for destroying piles of capital, but he decided the past was the past.
He might come to regret that change of heart. In early April, BRK.B sold 18% of its stake in DAL, just as the company said revenue will plunge 90% in the second quarter. The reduction came to almost 13 million Delta shares worth about $314 million.
Berkshire remains DAL's largest shareholder with 9.3% of shares outstanding, or 58.9 million shares.
SEE ALSO: 8 Best Consumer Stocks to Buy for Income & Growth
Extended Stay AmericaMarket value: $1.9 billion
Billionaire investor: SouthernSun Asset Management
Percent of holdings: 5.5%
With only $1.1 billion in assets, Memphis-based management firm SouthernSun Asset Management is a small player. But it isn't afraid to make big bets.
More than 5% of its portfolio is invested in an off-the-radar hotel chain called Extended Stay America (STAY, $10.87). The hotel chain serves a niche audience, accommodating guests who need to stay somewhere for more than just a few days. Its rooms include kitchenettes that let guests cook at home.
Analysts rate shares at Buy, but that could change at any time. The lockdown caused by coronavirus is hammering the hotel industry. That includes STAY, which is off 27% year-to-date.
FacebookMarket value: $583.6 billion
Billionaire investor: Mark Zuckerberg
Percent of portfolio: Unknown*
OK, this one might seem like a bit of a cheat. It's not difficult to become the biggest shareholder of the company you founded. But Mark Zuckerberg's enormous stake in Facebook (FB, $204.71) gives him by far and away a dominant position in the social media company, which was too interesting to pass up.
Mark Zuckerberg's 400 million shares make him the company's largest shareholder by a mile. The second-largest shareholder is massive asset manager Vanguard with 184 million shares.
Zuckerberg - who is worth $75.6 billion thanks to his FB stake - has earmarked the vast majority of his shares to be given to charity. He hasn't been specific, however, and there is every reason to expect Zuck to keep commanding control of the company for a long time.
*Although Mark Zuckerberg is legally required to disclose his stake in Facebook by virtue of being a major "insider" shareholder, unlike hedge funds, Zuckerberg is not required to disclose his other holdings or total value of his portfolio.
SEE ALSO: 10 Solid Social Distancing Stocks to Buy
General MotorsMarket value: $31.9 billion
Billionaire investor: David Einhorn (Greenlight Capital)
Percent of portfolio: 16.7%
Greenlight Capital's billionaire founder and president David Einhorn saw deep value in General Motors' (GM, $22.29) in 2017. Shares were almost laughably cheap, trading at less than 6 times projected earnings. A dividend yield that was usually above 4% only added to the allure, though GM has since suspended its dividend.
Einhorn called for some financial engineering that would squeeze more value out of the company, but mostly he liked GM for being GM. The massive and iconic auto manufacturer "is not going to be put out of business," Einhorn liked to say.
Einhorn has since lightened his position in GM, but Greenlight retains a large stake. Its 6.2 million shares, worth about $137 million, account for 16.7% of the value of the fund's stock picks.
Goldman SachsMarket value: $63.1 billion
Billionaire investor: Greenhaven Associates
Percent of portfolio: 16.9%
Goldman Sachs (GS, $183.42) is a favorite stock of Warren Buffett, but he's not the only billionaire who has taken a shine to the names. Greenhaven Associates, an advisory firm with 150 clients and $6.7 billion in AUM, has sunk 16.9% of its fund into Wall Street's biggest investment bank.
GS is Greenhaven's second largest investment, and the fund is a top-15 holder of Goldman's stock. The firm owns 3.3 million shares worth about $612 million. Greenhaven holds not not quite 1% of GS shares outstanding.
Greenhaven's other big bets include Citigroup, GM and homebuilder Lennar (LEN). Interestingly, Greenhaven's Edgar Wachenheim is the author of Common Stocks and Common Sense, a well-received book describing the fund chief's investing philosophy.
For what it's worth, Berkshire also holds 12 million shares in GS.
SEE ALSO: 15 Dividend Kings for Decades of Dividend Growth
HCA HealthcareMarket value: $37.2 billion
Billionaire investor: Lyrical Asset Management
Percent of portfolio: 6.2%
First things first: HCA Healthcare (HCA, $109.88), which operates hospitals, emergency care centers and other medical establishments, suspended its dividend on April 21.
Lyrical Asset Management's buy-and-hold strategy could be tested with this name. Like many health care stock picks, HCA is suffering from a lack of elective procedures as would-be patients avoid going anywhere as long as the risk of contracting COVID-19 is high.
HCA's first-quarter earnings missed Wall Street estimates because of the pandemic. "Patient volumes across most services were significantly impacted in the last two weeks of the quarter as various COVID-19 policies were implemented by federal and state governments," the company said in a press release.
In addition to suspending its quarterly payout, HCA also stopped buying back its own shares.
Lyrical owns 3.1 million shares worth about $341 million currently. The hedge fund owns 0.9% of HCA's shares outstanding.
SEE ALSO: 23 Dividend Cuts and Suspensions Chalked Up to the Coronavirus
HerbalifeMarket value: $5.1 billion
Billionaire investor: Carl Icahn
Percent of portfolio: 6.5%
It's Carl Icahn again. This time we're looking at his big stake in Herbalife (HLF, $37.35), which he initiated as part of a grudge. The billionaire activist investor dedicates 6.5% of his fund's value to the multi-level marketing firm.
His 35.2 million shares in HLF are worth about $1.3 billion. Icahn became the nutritional-supplement company's largest shareholder in 2012, at least partly to hurt a rival.
Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital said HLF was a "fraud" and a "pyramid scheme." He expected to reap billions by shorting the name, expecting federal regulators to shut it down.
Icahn has made no secret of his contempt for Ackman. "I've really about had it with this guy," Icahn once said in an interview with CNBC. "He's like the crybaby in the schoolyard."
Ackman finally threw in the towel on his HLF short after five years. Icahn remains long and strong. Indeed, it's his third-largest holding.
SEE ALSO: 15 Mid-Cap Stocks to Buy for Mighty Returns
IQVIA HoldingsMarket value: $27.2 billion
Billionaire investor: Bain Capital
Percent of portfolio: 17.2%
IQVIA Holdings (IQV, $142.59) isn't familiar to most investors, but one of its largest shareholders might ring a bell. Bain Capital - the private equity firm founded by current senator and one-time presidential candidate Mitt Romney - is the company's fourth largest shareholder.
IQVIA Holdings, formerly known as Quintiles and IMS Health, brings technological solutions to health-care problems. It helps life science, drug-development and even care-provider companies collect and analyze data, then use that data to bring new products to the market.
Bain holds 1.4 million shares in IQV worth about $200 million.
Market value: $291.7 billion
Billionaire investor: James Hambro & Partners
Percent of portfolio: 7.1%
JPMorgan Chase (JPM, $95.76), the nation's largest bank by assets, is naturally a hit with hedge funds, but one name in particular stands out. James Hambro & Partners ($3.5 billion in AUM) is interesting because Hambro is one of Britain's richest citizens.
Known as Jamie, Hambro made the British tabloids a few years back when local authorities shot down his $2.5 million plan to connect two of his adjacent houses in London.
Hambro holds 399,178 shares in JPM worth about $38 million. The stake accounts for 7.1% of the investment firm's portfolio.
SEE ALSO: 7 Bank Stocks That Could Get a Lift From SBA Loans
Liberty BroadbandMarket value: $21.8 billion
Billionaire investor: George Soros (Soros Fund Management)
Percent of portfolio: 22.5%
Liberty Broadband (LBRDK, $122.68) is one of the largest cable-TV suppliers in the U.S., but it's not a familiar name. That's because the company makes its bones by holding a 25% interest in Charter Communications, and 100% of its Skyhook subsidiary.
A name that should be familiar to most folks is billionaire George Soros. The Hungarian-born investor is perhaps best known for making $1 billion on a trade by shorting the pound.
Less sexy but remunerative nonetheless is Soros Fund Management's stake in Liberty Broadband. With almost 23% sunk into the position, it is Soros' largest equity holding. The fund holds 5.7 million shares, making it the cable company's fifth-largest shareholder.
Lowe'sMarket value: $79.1 billion
Billionaire investor: Bill Ackman (Pershing Square Capital)
Percent of portfolio: 15.2%
Lowe's (LOW, $104.75) often plays second fiddle to Home Depot (HD), the nation's largest home improvement chain, but it has plenty to brag about as a long-term holding.
Income investors know the power of LOW. The retailer has paid a cash distribution every quarter since going public in 1961, and that dividend has increased annually for 57 years.
The stock also has the backing of one of the most recognizable billionaires on Wall Street. Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital holds 8.6 million shares, devoting 15.2% of its total value to LOW stock.
When Ackman initiated the position in 2018, he called on Lowe's to overhaul its marketing and supply chain to create operational efficiencies. LOW is up 13% since the end of 2018. That trails the S&P 500 by about 3 percentage points.
SEE ALSO: How to Invest in Oil Right Now
MastercardMarket value: $276.4 billion
Billionaire investor: Gardner Russo & Gardner
Percent of portfolio: 14.6%
Mastercard (MA, $274.97), the No. 2 payments processor after Visa (V), has fans in high places. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holds 4.9 million shares worth about $1.4 billion.
Lesser billionaires have MA among their top stock picks, too. Indeed, few professional stock pickers however, have embraced Mastercard as warmly as Gardner Russo & Gardner ($13 billion in AUM). The money management firm buys into the idea that the relentless growth of digital mobile payments and other cashless transactions gives MA a bright outlook.
And well they should. Analysts, who rate shares at Buy, see MA generating average annual earnings growth of 13.6% over the next three to five years, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Mastercard is Gardner Russo & Gardner's largest position. The firm owns 6.4 million shares, which is good for 14.6% of its total portfolio value.
Market value: $53.3 billion
Billionaire investor: David Tepper (Appaloosa Management)
Percent of portfolio: 11.0%
Investors in semiconductor stocks have to accept that boom and bust cycles are just part of the program. Appaloosa Management's ($3.9 billion in AUM) David Tepper - who also owns the NFL's Carolina Panthers and is worth $12 billion - sure seems to be at peace with Micron Technologies (MU, $47.89).
Tepper added another 2.1 million shares in the chipmaker during the fourth quarter of 2019. In total, his fund's 8.1 million shares of MU make up 11% of Appaloosa's total holdings. Tepper's stake is worth about $388 million at current prices.
Tepper is known as an activist investor, but MU management don't appear to be a target in this case. Appaloosa holds just 0.73% of MU's shares outstanding.
SEE ALSO: The 12 Best ETFs to Battle a Bear Market
MicrosoftMarket value: $1.35 trillion
Billionaire investor: Chris Hohn (TCI Fund Management)
Percent of portfolio: 7.5%
Microsoft (MSFT, $179.21) is a natural stock pick for pretty much any institutional investor's portfolio. Its Windows operating system still is the most popular in the world, and the company has fully figured out how to drive recurring revenue by selling cloud-based services.
Shares in MSFT have been a fantastic bet for a number of years. Over the past three years alone, the stock is up 160% vs. a gain of only 22% for the S&P 500. Microsoft's torrid stock market run has lifted its market cap into rarefied air of more than $1 trillion.
One noteworthy top holder is TCI Fund Management, led by Chris Hohn. The London-based fund has $22.6 billion in assets under management. Hohn's net worth is estimated at $5 billion.
About 7.5% of the value of TCI's holdings stem from its 10.7 million MSFT shares. At current prices, the fund's stake is worth $1.9 billion.
Microsoft's fiscal third-quarter earnings, released April 29, exceeded analysts' forecasts. Microsoft said the global pandemic had a "minimal net impact" on revenue.
MondelezMarket value: $73.5 billion
Billionaire investor: Nelson Peltz (Trian Fund Management)
Percent of portfolio: 10.9%
Mondelez (MDLZ, $51.44) was born out of the 2012 spinoff of the North American grocery business called Kraft Foods Group. Kraft Foods Group later merged with H.J. Heinz in a 2015 deal backed by 3G Capital and Warren Buffett, to form Kraft Heinz (KHC).
Mondelez became a separate publicly traded company focused on snacks like Oreo cookies and Triscuit crackers, but it hasn't always been a sweet deal for investors. MDLZ traded sideways for years before finally getting some upside momentum in 2019.
Billionaire CEO Nelson Peltz first took a stake in 2012, aiming to orchestrate a deal with beverage and snack giant PepsiCo (PEP). The deal fizzled, but Peltz held on to his position. As of the end of the fourth quarter of last year, Trian still held 18.8 million shares of Mondelez, making it one of the fund's five top stocks, and nearly 11% of its holdings' value.
SEE ALSO: 7 Cheap Stocks Under $7 With Massive Upside Potential
Morgan StanleyMarket value: $62.1 billion
Billionaire investor: ValueAct Holdings
Percent of portfolio: 7.8%
Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley (MS, $39.43) often finds itself among the hedge fund crowd's top stock picks. Again, it's an august name with a large market value and ample liquidity for investors who want to buy and sell hefty positions.
Another attractive element of MS is its focus on wealth management, which helps smooth out the ups and downs of trading securities.
ValueAct, with $9.9 billion in AUM, has a thing for financial sector stocks. In addition to Citigroup and private equity firm KKR (KKR), the hedge fund has a big stake in Morgan Stanley.
ValueAct reduced its position by 32%, or 7.3 million shares, in the fourth quarter of 2019. However, it still holds 15 million shares worth nearly $6 million.
Procter & GambleMarket value: $291.8 billion
Billionaire investor: Nelson Peltz (Trian Fund Management)
Percent of portfolio: 42.3%
While you can find strong>Procter & Gamble (PG, $117.87) among plenty of hedge funds' stock picks, Nelson Peltz has a big bet on P&G. More than 40% of his fund's value comes from the consumer goods giant. Fortunately for Peltz and his investors, the stock is holding up relatively well amid the coronavirus lockdown.
Consumer staples companies such as P&G, whose brands include Tide detergent and Crest toothpaste, are known for their defensive characteristics. For the year-to-date, PG stock is off less than 6% vs. a loss of about 10% for the S&P 500.
PG also has a track record that equity income investors adore. The Dow component has paid shareholders a dividend since 1890 and has raised its dividend annually for 63 years in a row.
In 2018, P&G implemented a number of Peltz's suggestions, including packaging improvements and smarter messaging to consumers. Trian holds 31.2 million shares, which gives it 1.3% of PG's shares outstanding.
SEE ALSO: The Best and Worst Presidents (According to the Stock Market)
RevlonMarket value: $710.0 million
Billionaire investor: Ron Perelman (MacAndrews & Forbes)
Percent of portfolio: 42.7%
Beauty company Revlon (REV, $13.32) is controlled by billionaire investor Ron Perelman through his MacAndrews & Forbes holding company. And it's a sizable stake at that. REV accounts for almost 43% of the value of MacAndrews & Forbes' portfolio.
MacAndrews & Forbes is the company's No. 1 shareholder with 81.3% of shares outstanding. Perelman, worth an estimated $7.4 billion, separately owns an 8.9% stake in Revlon.
REV is a long-time market laggard. Over the past five years, the stock has lost more than two-thirds of its value.
SPDR Gold SharesAssets under management: $57.8 billion
Billionaire investor: Ray Dalio (Bridgewater Associates)
Percent of portfolio: 5.9%
This one technically isn't a stock, but it's interesting to know nonetheless. Hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio, one of the greatest investors of his generation, loves exchange-traded funds. His Bridgewater Associates owns a slew of ETFs, which, ironically, track a market benchmark rather than try to beat that benchmark with skill.
Bridgewater's single largest position is in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), with 23% of the firm's weight thrown behind the exchange-traded fund. But some investors think that in times like this, a diversified and hedged portfolio might want to invest in gold. Dalio sure thinks that way.
The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD, $158.80) accounts for almost 6% of the portfolio's value. And then hedging that trade, Dalio also has large positions in a number of emerging-markets funds.
SEE ALSO: 7 Gold ETFs With Low Costs
SyscoMarket value: $28.6 billion
Billionaire investor: Nelson Peltz (Trian Fund Management)
Percent of portfolio: 21.4%
Sysco (SYY, $56.27) is another stalwart dividend payer with a long record of annual increases. The food services and restaurant supply company has raised its payout annually every year for 51 years.
SYY's revenue stream is based on a combination of organic growth and mergers and acquisitions. In 2015, however, some investors thought the company was undervalued. In stepped our good friend Nelson Peltz and his Trian Fund Management.
Peltz owns 4.7% of SYY's shares outstanding, which is worth about $1.3 billion. That stake accounts for more than 21% of the value of Trian's holdings.
Perhaps thanks to Peltz, Sysco is up 55% since 2015. The S&P 500 gained 41% over the same span.
Market value: $144.2 billion
Billionaire investor: Baillie Gifford
Percent of portfolio: 5.6%
It's hard to keep a low profile when you manage more than $100 billion in securities and have more than $200 billion in assets under management. And that goes double for a firm that's been around for more than 100 years. Especially one that focuses on tech stocks.
Edinburgh-based Baillie Gifford, which is owned by its partners, has managed to do just that.
The U.K. may be an ocean and a continent away from Tesla (TSLA, $781.88), but Baillie Gifford knows the electric car maker intimately.
The firm holds more than 13.8 million shares of TSLA, which accounts for 5.6% of Baillie Gifford's portfolio. The position makes the firm Tesla's second largest shareholder after founder Elon Musk, holding 7.5% of its shares outstanding.
SEE ALSO: 7 Best Growth ETFs to Reap the Recovery's Rewards
Tyson FoodsMarket value: $22.7 billion
Billionaire investor: Highline Capital
Percent of portfolio: 7.5%
Shares in Tyson Foods (TSN, $62.19) have been on a tear since mid-March. Shares in the country's largest meat company have gained about 40% since March 18, vs. a jump of 21% for the S&P 500.
That's good news for Highline Capital ($2.9 billion in AUM). The New York-based hedge fund has more than 7% of its portfolio socked away in TSN.
Tyson recently warned that COVID-19 outbreak is threatening the country's food-supply chain. Although President Donald Trump signed an order that used the power of the Defense Production Act to keep the meat companies open, it's unclear what that means for business - or for companies' legal liability when their employees get sick.
Tyson's 523,135 shares are worth more than $32 million at current prices.
Net assets: $52.4 billion
Billionaire investor: Ray Dalio (Bridgewater Associates)
Percent of portfolio: 11.2%
As mentioned above, hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio really likes ETFs. Fully 11.2% of Bridgewater's fund value comes from Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO, $36.17).
Dalio holds 24.8 million shares of the ETF, which are worth about $897 million at current prices. The size of the stake might have you conclude that Dalio really loves emerging markets, but not so fast. He slashed his stake by 12.6 million shares, or 34%, during the quarter ended December 2019.
Emerging markets are having a rough time of it now that the global economy is in a medically induced coma. VWO is down 19% so far this year, almost double the loss for the S&P 500.
SEE ALSO: 8 Great Vanguard ETFs for a Low-Cost Core
ViacomCBSMarket value: $10.6 billion
Billionaire investor: John Paulson (Paulson & Co.)
Percent of portfolio: 5.4%
John Paulson gained his fame during the 2007-09 financial crisis when he made billions by using credit default swaps to bet against the subprime mortgage market. By that measure, a 5.4% stake in media giant ViacomCBS (VIAC, $17.26) is a pretty dull stock pick.
Hedge fund Paulson & Co. holds 6 million shares of Viacom Class B stock. That gives Paulson ownership of almost 1% of VIAC's shares outstanding.
The cable, TV and film company's stock has been in a downtrend for three years, hurt by the competition beefing up to compete in streaming media services. To that end, Viacom re-merged with broadcaster CBS for $30 billion in 2019. The move came almost 15 years after Viacom spun off CBS because broadcast was thought to be a drag on growth.
Market value: $384 billion
Billionaire investor: DSM Capital Partners
Percent of portfolio: 6.1%
It's not difficult to find prominent billionaires who extol the virtues of Visa (V, $178.72). The payments processor and Dow Jones Industrial Average component has no less a fan than Warren Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway holds 10.6 million shares.
DSM Capital Partners co-managing partners Stephen Memishian and Daniel Strickberger aren't in Buffett's league, but the money management duo clearly know enough to attract and retain clients - and suss out good stock picks. The Florida-based firm has $7.8 billion in AUM.
More than 6% of the value of DSM's portfolio stems from Visa, which still has a bright long-term outlook despite what the pandemic lockdown is doing to travel and shopping in the present. As the world's largest payments processor, Visa is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the explosive global growth in digital mobile payments and other cashless transactions.
SEE ALSO: Warren Buffett's 11 Best Stocks of the Bear Market
Waste ManagementMarket value: $42.4 billion
Billionaire investor: Bill Gates (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust)
Percent of portfolio: 9.9%
Garbage hauling doesn't have the cache of investing in technology shares and other hot stocks, but there's a good bull case to be made. It's a critical societal function that will never lack for demand. Furthermore, waste disposal and recycling in the age of climate change are rapidly becoming existential challenges.
Waste Management (WM, $100.02) is a stock pick that's a world away from Microsoft, but Bill Gates knows that it serves a function that's just as important. That's why nearly 10% of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust is invested in the Houston-based company.
Through the trust, Gates is the company's fourth-largest shareholder with 4.4% of WM's shares outstanding. Analysts on average rate the stock at Buy, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. They expect WM to deliver average annual growth of 7.9% a year for the next three to five years.
Wells FargoMarket value: $118.8 billion
Billionaire investor: Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)
Percent of portfolio: 7.2%
Wells Fargo (WFC, $29.05), the nation's third-largest bank by assets, has put Warren Buffett's desire to hold a stock "forever" to the test.
WFC has been something of a problem child since 2016, when numerous scandals bubbled to the surface. The bank opened millions of phony accounts, modified mortgages without authorization and charged customers for auto insurance they did not need. The clean-up process has been slow and claimed not one but two CEOs.
Buffett's conviction hasn't much changed regarding this stock pick. True, he has pared his stake over the years, but BRK.B still remains Wells Fargo's top shareholder. The holding company's 323.2 million shares equates to 8.8% of all shares outstanding.
WFC stock has been a ghastly investment in 2020. Shares are down by almost half year-to-date vs. a decline of 10% for the S&P 500.
SEE ALSO: The Best Online Brokers
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
