Apple Overtakes Microsoft as Pros’ Favorite Tech Stock (MSFT, AAPL, XOM, JNJ, IBM, CSCO, GOOG, ORCL, INTC)

After passing Microsoft (MSFT) in market-cap earlier this year, Apple (AAPL) ousted the software giant as the Pros’ favorite tech stock at the end of the third quarter.

With the deadline for end-of-Q3 regulatory filings behind us, investors are now privy to the latest holdings from Wall Street’s top money managers, and it’s always interesting to take a look at the Pros’ favorite stocks based on the number of 13F-filing asset managers counting shares in their top-15 U.S.-listed equity holdings. At the end of Q3, energy giant ExxonMobil (XOM) and healthcare blue chip Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) were ranked first and second in Pro popularity again, but there was a changing of the guard in the tech space as Apple passed Microsoft for the number-three spot on the list.

At the end of Q3, 695 13F-filing asset managers counted Apple among their top-15 U.S.-listed equity holdings, compared to 674 Pros at Microsoft.

Elsewhere in the technology sector, IBM (IBM), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Google (GOOG), Oracle (ORCL) and Intel (INTC) were all in the top holdings of more than 250 13F-filing asset managers, ranking the stocks in the top-20 in tickerspy’s Pro holders ranking.

For more on these stocks, and the full list of the Pros’ favorite stocks at the end of Q3, visit tickerspy.com.

Pro portfolio performance is based on institutions’ top-15 holdings as disclosed in quarter-end filings with the SEC. Pro performance does not take into account additional holdings beyond the top 15 nor does it include positions that are not required to be disclosed by the SEC. As such, Pro portfolio performance should be considered an approximation and not a precise record of how an institution has performed over time.

Tags: AAPL, CSCO, GOOG, IBM, INTC, JNJ, MSFT, ORCL, XOM