Billionaire Ken Fisher’s 10 Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential
In this article, we discuss billionaire Ken Fisher's 10 stock picks with huge upside potential. To skip Fisher's comments on current economic conditions and details about his Q3 bets, go directly to Billionaire Ken Fisher's 5 Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential.
Ken Fisher runs one of the largest and most successful hedge funds in the world. Fisher Asset Management was started with $250 in 1979 and has over $205 billion worth of assets under management as of September 30, 2023. Ken Fisher remained the CEO of the firm till 2016 and passed the torch to Damian Ornani. However, Fisher remains the executive chairman and co-chief investment officer of Fisher Asset Management. Fisher’s firm offers personalized services and tailors an investment strategy according to its client’s needs. Fisher Asset Management serves 140,000 clients around the world.
Ken Fisher is also an author and is the son of legendary growth investor and author Philip Fisher. Between 1986 and 2017, he wrote the "Portfolio Strategy" column on Forbes. Furthermore, 6 out of 11 books written by Ken Fisher have been national best sellers. As of December 1, he has a net worth of $7.4 billion.
Ken Fisher on Current Economic Conditions
Wall Street has recently taken a sigh of relief, and analysts are bullish on the market conditions of the near future after the S&P 500 performed better than expected, in addition to the Federal Reserve keeping the rates steady in three out of the last four meetings. S&P 500 was up 20.15% year-to-date on December 1. Despite that, several analysts are predicting a “soft landing” or a mild recession in early 2024. However, Ken Fisher is quite optimistic about the future. He said that even though a lot of people have a negative view of the economy, he has a different opinion. He said in a video on Fisher Investments’ YouTube channel:
“A world of 2, 3, 4% GDP growth, low unemployment, and a return to 2% inflation isn’t actually that far away from where we are right now. It is not where we are right now, but it's not that far away, and yet that is the world we had in 2018-19. So, in some ways, whether we are or are not returning to that pre-pandemic economy and world in terms of notions like consumer debt, in terms of notions like deficits, in terms of notions like GDP growth, unemployment, inflation, etc. Well, we are not all the way there, and of course, by definition, interest rates are much higher at the level of what the Federal Reserve and the government are doing, than were the case then, but in a world of 2, 3, 4% growth, low unemployment, inflation falling down to around 3% on its way to 2%, it's not that bad a world. Is it perfect? No, but it's not that bad, and it's good enough that we should embrace that and get over our fears so much because we are still seeing fears at every corner.”
Fisher further added that most of the events that negatively affected the market took place between 2020 and 2022, and there isn’t much left that could have a significant negative impact on the market.
Ken Fisher Performance and Bets
As of September 30, Ken Fisher’s portfolio has gained nearly 70% in the last decade. His firm has a 3-year average annualized return of 6.65%. Additionally, it has returned 18.28% in the last 12 months, according to TipRanks.
In the third quarter, Fisher Asset Management had a 13F portfolio worth $176 billion, down from $181 billion in Q2. The firm made 129 new stock purchases and sold out of 131 stocks. Additionally, the firm increased its holdings in 435 new stocks and reduced its investments in 475 stocks.
Nearly 27% of Ken Fisher’s portfolio is covered by the technology sector and his top three holdings are Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL). While analysts have a positive sentiment toward these stocks, two of them have failed to make it to our list. According to the analysts, some of Fisher's stock picks with a huge upside potential apart from Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) include Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). To see the stock picks of some other billionaire hedge fund managers, you can check out ‘Greedy When Others are Fearful’: Warren Buffett’s New Stock Picks Since 2022 Market Peak and the 13 Best Growth Stocks To Buy According To George Soros.
Our Methodology
For this article, we selected the top 50 stocks of Fisher Asset Management’s third-quarter 13F portfolio and checked their average analyst price targets on TipRanks. We selected the 10 stocks with the highest upside potential as of December 1 and listed the stocks in ascending order of Ken Fisher’s stake value.
Billionaire Ken Fisher's 10 Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential
10. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)
Ken Fisher’s Stake Value: $1.35 billion
Average analyst price target: $182.12
Average analyst price target upside: 25.76%
Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is a California-based integrated oil and gas company. It is one of the oil Supermajors and one of the largest descendants of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil.
Out of 18 analysts that have covered Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)’s stock in the last three months, 12 maintain a Buy rating on the company shares. The average analyst price target of $182.12 shows a 25.76% upside to the company stock price at the time of writing on December 1.
On October 30, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform with a $200 price target by Bernstein analyst Bob Brackett. The analyst views the Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) deal as "accessing the most valuable growth runway of any oil basin on earth for a modest premium." On October 23, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) signed an agreement to acquire Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) for $53 billion in an all-stock deal.
In addition to Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) are some of Ken Fisher’s top picks with a huge upside potential.
9. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)
Ken Fisher’s Stake Value: $1.37 billion
Average analyst price target: $126.07
Average analyst price target upside: 21.85%
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in New Jersey. In the third quarter, 85 hedge funds had a stake in the company, up from 78 in the previous quarter. Ken Fisher’s firm was Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s largest shareholder, with 13.338 million shares worth $1.37 billion.
Apart from Fisher, other billionaire hedge funds were also quite bullish on Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK). Citadel Investment Group increased its stake in the company by 263% to 6.677 million shares worth $687.408 million. In addition, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management increased its holdings in the company by a whopping 7047% to 3.42 million shares worth $352.137 million. In Q3, the combined stake of hedge funds in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) increased to $5.064 billion from $265.30 billion in Q2.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has been raising dividends for the past 13 years. On November 28, the company increased its quarterly dividend value by 5.5% to $0.77 per share. It is payable by January 8 to the shareholders of record on December 15.
Carillon Tower Advisers mentioned Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in its Q2 2023 investor letter. Here is what it said:
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) presented positive clinical data for a new drug in its oncology pipeline, announced an acquisition that was viewed favorably by investors, and reported strong first-quarter financial results while also increasing its earnings guidance for 2023.
8. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)
Ken Fisher’s Stake Value: $1.456 billion
Average analyst price target: $129.21
Average analyst price target upside: 27.20%
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is one of the largest energy companies in the world by revenue. It is an integrated oil and gas company headquartered in Texas.
In the third quarter, 79 hedge funds had stakes worth $4.48 billion in Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), up from 71 hedge funds with a combined stake value of $3.087 billion in the previous quarter. First Eagle Investment Management was the most prominent stakeholder in the company, with 13.19 million shares worth $1.55 billion in Q3.
Fisher Asset Management owned 1.98 million shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) worth $1.456 billion. The company covered 0.82% of Ken Fisher’s 13F portfolio in the third quarter.
7. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)
Ken Fisher’s Stake Value: $1.458 billion
Average analyst price target: $180.79
Average analyst price target upside: 17.14%
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is a retail company that operates chains of discount stores, grocery stores, and hypermarkets. It owns over 10,500 stores and clubs in 19 countries, including eCommerce websites.
Despite being a low-volatility stock, analysts see a big upside potential to Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s current stock price. Based on the coverage of 30 analysts, the average analyst price target of $180.79 represents a 17.14% upside to the company’s stock price on December 1. 25 out of 30 analysts keep a Buy rating on Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) shares.
In Q3, Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) covered 0.82% of Fisher Asset Management’s portfolio with 9.115 million shares worth nearly $1.458 billion. The firm held the largest stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the quarter.
6. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Ken Fisher’s Stake Value: $1.51 billion
Average analyst price target: $387.71
Average analyst price target upside: 19.36%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), formerly Facebook, has been one of the top-performing tech stocks of the year. The company’s stock has gained over 160.40% at the time of writing on December 1. From its November 2022 lows, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) stock has jumped over 250%.
According to the Insider Monkey database, 234 hedge funds had a stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the third quarter of 2023. Compared to Q2, the total hedge fund investments increased by over $4.3 billion to $35.24 billion. GQG Partners was the most significant stakeholder of the company, with over 11.137 million shares worth $3.34 billion.
As of December 1, the average analyst price target on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) shows an upside of 19.36%. According to TipRanks, 37 out of 38 analysts have a Buy rating on the company stock.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) are some of Ken Fisher’s stock picks with big upside potential besides Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META).
Artisan Partners made the following comment about Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) added to its string of gains in Q3. The share price is up about 150% this year. Second quarter results were very good: revenue growth is back to double digits, user metrics are solid and show very good engagement, daily active users grew 7%, and importantly, Facebook app users continue to grow across all geographies. Instagram is growing more strongly, but solid growth in the legacy Facebook business is a positive indicator. Importantly, the company has controlled expenses tightly. Headcount was down 14% year over year. Adjusted EBIT grew 44%, and the margin recovered strongly to 38%, from 29% last year.”
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Disclosure. None. Billionaire Ken Fisher's 10 Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential is originally published on Insider Monkey.