Amazon.com aside, the FANGs appear to be losing luster with big hedge funds. Those stocks— Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google’s parent Alphabet—have been hugely popular with hedge funds, many of which have made a killing as the stocks have surged.
That could be changing. Other than Amazon, exposure to the FANG stocks declined in the second quarter for the 50 largest hedge funds, according to data from FactSet Research. Hedge funds decreased their exposure to Facebook and Netflix by $1.2 billion each and sold about $1 billion worth of Alphabet shares.
Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, sold 156,72 shares of Facebook, reducing its stake from $32.8 million to $9.4 million at the end of the second quarter, according to regulatory filings. Bridgewater also initiated a small position in Amazon, and bought shares of Chinese internet firms Alibaba Group Holding and Baidu.
Amazon remained popular, with the group adding stakes worth a total of $1.6 billion.
Overall, tech is still a mainstay for the hedge funds. The market value of tech stocks held by the 50 largest funds grew by more than $8 billion in the second quarter, exceeding every other sector. Most popular was Spotify Technology. Funds built a $3.5 billion stake in the music-streaming service, led by Tiger Global Management.
Apple wasn’t one of the original FANGs but it, too, remains popular, with hedge funds adding $1.3 billion worth, and Renaissance Technologies plowing $800 million into the shares.