Exiting the second quarter of 2023, the level of under-ownership of mega-cap tech stocks by institutional investors remained relatively stable at -82 basis points (bps), according to Morgan Stanley analysts.
In comparison, the rest of the large-cap tech sector saw a modest increase of +20 bps during the same period. Each quarter, Morgan Stanley tracks ownership data for 15 of the largest cap tech companies across its U.S. technology equity research coverage.
At the stock level, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has now overtaken Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) as the most under-owned large-cap tech stock at the end of the second quarter.
“After 4 years of being the most under-owned large cap tech stock we track, MSFT has ceded its position to AAPL, which is now the most under-owned tech stock as of C2Q23, as the gap between AAPL's S&P 500 weighting and institutional ownership increased by 91bps in 2Q, to -2.21%, the most in any quarter in at least 15 years,” said analysts in a note.
Apple is followed by Microsoft (-2.17%), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) (-0.47%), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) (-0.20%), and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (-0.19%).
Meanwhile, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) over-ownership gap has reached its widest point in almost a decade.
“Amongst the 5 mega-cap tech stocks, META is the only name where institutional ownership is greater than its S&P 500 weighting,” analysts added.