Certain names are conspicuously absent from the latest list of new buys by the best mutual funds. Ravaged by the recent bear market, tech stocks like Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet and Nvidia all failed to make the cut.
Microsoft, Nvidia and GOOGL stock — all longtime fixtures on this monthly-updated list — dropped off in May. After being the lone survivor last month, Apple failed to make the list of new buys by top funds for June.
In place of these tech leaders, medical, defense and energy stocks have found favor. UnitedHealth, Bristol Myers Squibb, AbbVie, Pfizer and Thermo Fisher Scientific each took in over $1 billion from the best mutual funds.
Also in the medical sector, AstraZeneca ($916 million), Anthem ($883 million) and Eli Lilly ($768 million) took home impressive consolation prizes.
Energy Stocks Win Fans With Best Mutual Funds
Pioneer Natural Resources topped the list of investments by the best mutual funds. It found a pipeline to $1.9 billion in new investments. Fellow energy sector stocks Baker Hughes, EOG Resources and Diamondback Energy also garnered significant intakes.
As geopolitical tensions with Russia, China and elsewhere continue, leading money managers also took large stakes in defense stocks. L3Harris Technologies ($924 million) and Lockheed Martin ($911 million) led the sector.
Top money managers also had their eyes — and money — on Berkshire Hathaway. The best mutual funds invested roughly $1.5 billion in the Warren Buffett-led conglomerate.
Note: Be sure to check these Excel files, updated and published each month, to see all the stocks on the latest list of new buys and list of new sells by the best mutual funds.
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Medical, Defense And Oil Stocks Setting Up
As the Energy Select Sectors SPDR ETF trades around new highs, several energy and oil stocks on the list of new buys by the best mutual funds have become extended from their most recent breakouts. PXD stock fits that description, as do EOG Resources, Matador Resources and Northern Oil & Gas, just to name a few.
While CNX Resources looks to revive its recent buy zone, energy sector stocks priming new buy points include Baker Hughes and DT Midstream. But showing that even energy stocks are not immune to this volatile market, Baker Hughes, DT Midstream and others in the sector have felt pressure this week.
Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Amgen and Anthem join UnitedHealth and Pfizer among medical stocks trying to power new entries amid the market turmoil.
Defense stocks Lockheed Martin, Heico and L3Harris are trying to battle resistance and secure support for a continued climb.
For all these stocks, the action around key moving averages offers a clear-eyed view of both support and resistance.
Apple MIA, But The Best Mutual Funds Buy These Tech Stocks
While Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and Alphabet failed to make the list of new buys by the best mutual funds, several tech stocks do make the grade.
It will take time to repair the damage to tech stocks from the recent bear market. But Amdocs, hailing from the tech services industry group, worked its way into a buy zone but the move is now challenged. After a powerful but choppy run, Super Micro Computer became extended after posting accelerating earnings and sales growth last quarter. After retreating to give back much of those gains, SMCI found support at its 50-day moving average.
Other tech names trying to weather the storm and in demand among the best mutual funds include KLA, Analog Devices, ON Semiconductor and Broadcom.
Since its IPO in 2019, Parsons has traded essentially sideways. The software stock focused on the defense and intelligence markets tried to secure a new buy zone but has fallen back below it.
Follow Matthew Galgani on Twitter at @IBD_MGalgani.
