According to Morgan Stanley’s latest review of institutional holdings, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) continues to be the most under-owned large-cap tech stock among major U.S. investors, while Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) remains significantly overrepresented in portfolios.
The analysis, based on Q1 13-F filings, reveals that although the ownership gap across the sector has narrowed somewhat, Apple still trails its S&P 500 index weighting by 2.06%. Institutional ownership of Apple slipped to 4.86%, even as its S&P 500 representation dropped more sharply to 6.9%, maintaining a noticeable disparity.
“Apple remains the most under-owned among the large-cap tech names we track,” Morgan Stanley stated. The firm also noted a modest improvement across the broader tech space, with average under-ownership in mega-cap tech improving slightly from -124 to -116 basis points.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) were also highlighted as under-owned by institutional investors, with Microsoft showing a -2.02% gap, Nvidia at -1.48%, and Amazon at -1.22%.
In contrast, companies like Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU), Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE), and Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) were found to be over-weighted in institutional portfolios, with their ownership levels exceeding their respective S&P 500 weights by 0.68%, 0.27%, and 0.22%.
One of the more notable changes was seen in Nvidia, which experienced the largest gain in institutional positioning during Q1, with the gap between its ownership and index weighting improving by 38 basis points. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s ownership lag widened slightly.
Despite being under-owned, Apple remains a favored pick for Morgan Stanley, which reiterated its Overweight rating and maintained a $235 price target. The bank cited long-term potential driven by upcoming changes to the iPhone form factor and extended replacement cycles. However, it flagged potential headwinds including legal risks, tariff exposure, and limited visibility on Services revenue for the June quarter.
As for Meta, Morgan Stanley concluded that it continues to be the most over-held stock in the group, with institutional ownership sitting 12 basis points above its S&P 500 weighting.
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