August 2022 was marred by continued volatility amid revived fears of several interest rate hikes that threaten to bring the already slowing economy to a screeching halt. Remarkably, the U.S. stock market clocked its weakest August in seven years this year.
Needless to say, trading activity was hot, and certain patterns stood out. Several stocks were bought and sold at significant volumes. In an attempt to align the trading patterns to understand the market movements better, we looked into August’s Buy and Sell transactions of the 526,743 investors that hold a TipRanks Smart Portfolio.
August’s Most Bought Stocks
There were two noticeable entries to August’s list of most bought stocks when compared with July’s list. Electric vehicle maker Nio (NYSE:NIO) and telecommunications giant AT&T (NYSE:T) replaced chipmakers Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD). Talks of restrictions on chip sales to China, elevated input costs, and persistent component shortages might have been the reason behind this bearishness toward AMD and Intel.
Notably, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) replaced e-commerce and technology bigwig Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) as the most bought stock.
Apple’s position as the most valuable company in the world, along with its competitive moat and fundamental strength, could have driven investors to the stock. Long-term investors kept their eyes beyond the clouds despite the tech sector being in its most volatile period, thanks to rising interest rates and other headwinds.
Wall Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on AAPL stock based on 23 Buys, four Holds, and one Sell. Moreover, the average AAPL stock price target of $183.56 implies an upside potential of about 16.6% from current price levels.
Recently, Oppenheimer analyst Martin Yang was upbeat about Apple’s ability to consistently deliver “innovative and delightful user interface designs.” Apple’s new UI feature Dynamic Island is, according to Yang, a testimony of why Apple products are unique. The analyst maintained a Buy rating and a price target of $190 on Apple.
Here are August’s top 10 most bought stocks:
1. Apple, previously 3rd, replaced Amazon
2. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), previously 6th, replaced Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
3. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), previously 4th, replaced Apple
4. Amazon, previously 1st, replaced Microsoft
5. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), previously 8th, replaced Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)
6. Alphabet Class A, previously 2nd, replaced Tesla
7. Nvidia, previously 5th, replaced Alphabet Class C (NASDAQ:GOOG)
8. Nio, previously 29th, replaced Meta Platforms
9. Alphabet Class C, previously 7th, replaced Advanced Micro Devices
10. AT&T, previously 11th, replaced Intel
August’s Most Sold Stocks
There were a few replacements in the list of the 10 most sold stocks in August. Interestingly, this time, Apple was also the most sold stock in August.
The entry of theatre operator AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC), cryptocurrency technology provider Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), and oil company Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) among the top 10 most sold stocks displaced Alphabet Class A, Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD), and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY).
The selling trends reflect the skepticism among investors amid uncertainty and their struggle to find an appropriate approach to investing during a downturn.
Coming back to the most sold stocks, the biggest jump was made by AMC Entertainment, which is currently a Moderate Sell on Wall Street based on two Holds and three Sells. AMC’s stock prediction is also not so glamorous, with an average price target of $5.53, indicating downside risk of 43.1%.
Here are the top 10 most sold stocks for August:
1. Apple, previously 6th, replaced Meta Platforms
2. Microsoft, previously 11th, replaced Alphabet Class A
3. Meta Platforms, previously 1st, replaced Nio
4. Amazon, unchanged
5. Alphabet Class C, previously 7th, replaced Tesla
6. Tesla, previously 5th, replaced Apple
7. Nvidia, previously 10th, replaced Alphabet Class C
8. AMC Entertainment, previously 54th, replaced Enterprise Products Partners
9. Coinbase, previously 13th, replaced SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
10. Exxon Mobil, previously 15th, replaced Nvidia
We will come back soon with the most traded stocks of September. Meanwhile, bearing the current market scenario in mind, you can track how your own portfolio is performing by opening a Smart Portfolio on TipRanks.
