Apple Is The World's Most Valuable Company, But Among Active Fund Managers' Least-Favorite Stocks

According to new analysis from UBS Group, actively-managed funds are more underweight Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) than any other stock relative to its benchmark weighting.

TD Ameritrade data confirms the UBS evidence that traders seem to be taking profits in Apple. As of December 15, Apple was among the five most-sold stocks of 2016.

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) is a close second behind Apple on UBS’s list of active managers’ most under-owned stocks. AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a distant third.

On the other hand, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE: UNH) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) top the UBS list of active managers’ most over-owned stocks.

Of course, even if active fund managers are dumping Apple, it is still the most widely-held stock among institutional investors in terms of both the number of institutional owners and the aggregate value of the positions. According to WhaleWisdom, the most recent batch of 13F filings from September revealed 2,301 institutional Apple owners with total aggregate holdings of $341.7 billion.

However, if the Apple dump continues, Amazon or Microsoft could soon take Apple’s spot as the most popular institutional stock. Leon Cooperman, George Soros, Jim Chanos and David Einhorn are among the big-name fund managers that have been selling shares of Apple in recent quarters.