May was a relatively smooth month for markets as investors got used to sitting on the news of inflation, recession, supply shortages, geopolitical issues, and numerous other headwinds. In fact, the final week of the month also saw a strong relief rally which helped the indexes recover most of the losses from earlier in the month.
To understand May’s trading patterns better, we checked the month’s Buy and Sell transactions of the 526,743 investors that hold a TipRanks Smart Portfolio.
Most Bought Stocks
There were a few changes in May’s list of most bought stocks compared with April’s list. Looking at the previous month’s list, we noticed that interactive software games developer Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) topped the list as the most bought stock, replacing Apple (AAPL).
As the market volatility slightly cooled in the first half of the month, Take-Two gained about 2% in May. However, what really made TTWO the most bought company was its buyout of mobile entertainment provider Zynga. The transaction strengthened and diversified Take-Two’s business, making it more appealing to investors.
Wall Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on TTWO stock based on 18 Buys and one Hold assigned in the past three months. The average TTWO price target of $182.42 is also appealing, implying upside potential of just over 41% from current price levels.
Last week, Barclays analyst Mario Lu reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and raised the price target to $171 from $85.
Moreover, nine insiders made 10 Buy transactions in May, which tells us more about the upbeat prospects of the company.
1. Take-Two, a new entrant, replaced Apple
2. DraftKings (DKNG), a new entrant, replaced Warner Bros. (WBD)
3. Apple, previously 1st, replaced Tesla (TSLA)
4. Tesla, previously 3rd, replaced Nvidia (NVDA)
5. Amazon (AMZN), previously 7th, replaced Meta Platforms (FB)
6. Nvidia, previously 4th, replaced Microsoft (MSFT)
7. Microsoft, previously 6th, replaced Amazon
8. Meta Platforms, previously 5th, replaced Alphabet (GOOGL)
9. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), previously 10th, replaced Nio (NIO)
10. Nio, previously 9th, replaced Advanced Micro Devices
Most Sold Stocks
Most of the 10 most sold stocks were the same as in April. Apple continued to be the most sold stock of May for the fourth time in a row. This skepticism represents the broader market tech Armageddon that has resulted from inflation, high-interest rates, geopolitical unrest, component shortages, and a looming recession.
Coming back to the 10 most sold stocks, Paypal (PYPL) and Twitter (TWTR) dropped off the list. Meanwhile, Coinbase (COIN) entered, possibly resulting from the storm of the broader cryptocurrency sector.
However, Wall Street analysts are cautiously optimistic about COIN, with a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 15 Buys, three Holds, and two Sells assigned in the past three months. The average Coinbase price target of $156.17 indicates around 111.6% upside.
1. Apple, unchanged
2. Tesla, unchanged
3. Amazon, previously 6th, replaced Nvidia
4. Nvidia, previously 3rd, replaced Meta Platforms
5. Microsoft (MSFT), unchanged
6. Nio (NIO), previously 8th, replaced Amazon
7. Coinbase, previously 23rd, replaced Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
8. Meta Platforms, previously 4th, replaced Nio
9. Advanced Micro Devices, previously 7th, replaced Paypal
10. SoFi Technologies (SOFI), previously 12th, replaced Twitter
Watch this space for June’s most traded stocks. In the meantime, if you want to check out your own portfolio’s performance, open a Smart Portfolio on TipRanks.
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