The Most Popular Stocks Held By 4 Different Generations Of Investors

TD Ameritrade has shared a new batch of statistics with Benzinga that are focused on investment strategies among different generations of stock market investors. Here’s a breakdown of the most popular stocks (by percentage of TD Ameritrade portfolios containing the stock) over four different generations.

Millennials (born 1980-1997)
1. Apple Inc AAPL (12.3%)
2. Facebook Inc FB (2.1%)
3. General Electric Co GE (1.7%)
4. Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-B) (1.7%)
5. Bank of America BAC (1.6%)
6. The Walt Disney Co DIS (1.5%)
7. Tesla Motors Inc TSLA (1.3%)
8. Microsoft Corp MSFT (1.3%)
9. Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA (1.2%)
10. ExxonMobil Corp XOM (1.2%)
It’s interesting to note that Millennials are the only generation to have Disney in their top 10 and the only generation not to have Intel Corp INTC make the list.

Generation X (born 1965-1980)
1. Apple (12.6%)
2. Facebook (2.2%)
3. Bank of America (1.8%)
4. Berkshire Hathaway (1.5%)
5. General Electric (1.4%)
6. Microsoft (1.4%)
7. Alibaba (1.2%)
8. Intel (1.1%)
9. Tesla (1.0%)
10. Amazon.com Inc AMZN (0.9%)
Apple and Facebook lead the way in both of the two youngest generations. However, Generation X is unique among all four generations by being the only one with Amazon in the top 10 and the only generation without Exxon on the list.

Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964)
1. Apple (9.9%)
2. General Electric (1.7%)
3. Microsoft (1.5%)
4. Facebook (1.4%)
5. Bank of America (1.4%)
6. Intel (1.3%)
7. AT&T Inc T (1.3%)
8. ExxonMobil (1.2%)
9. Berkshire Hathaway (1.1%)
10. Johnson & Johnson JNJ (0.9%)
Two new names crack into the top 10 for the Baby Boomers: Johnson & Johnson and AT&T. Older investors are more comfortable with long-standing American blue chip companies such as these two names rather than next-generation tech companies Alibaba and Tesla, neither of which crack the Baby Boomers’ top 10.

Seniors (born 1928-1945)
1. Apple (6.7%)
2. AT&T (2.0%)
3. General Electric (1.9%)
4. ExxonMobil (1.9%)
5. Microsoft (1.4%)
6. Verizon Communications Inc VZ (1.2%)
7. Johnson & Johnson (1.1%)
8. Pfizer Inc PFE (1.1%)
9. Intel (1.1%)
10. International Business Machines Corp IBM (1.1%)
While Apple remains atop the list for Seniors, Verizon, Pfizer and IBM pop up for the first time. Senior investors likely enjoy the steady dividend income from these three names, each of which pay more than 3.0 percent annually. Seniors are also the only generation of the four not to have Bank of America and Facebook in their top 10 holdings.

Inter-generational trends
While the reliance on modern tech names shrinks and the dependence on high-yielding blue chips grows as the generations get older, it’s striking how much similarity the four lists have. Of the thousands of publicly-traded companies, the top 10 holdings spanning four generations of investors ages 18 to 87 includes a total of only 17 different stocks.
Apple is the clear winner, taking the top spot in each list. Apple shows up in the portfolios of investors of every age at rates three to five times the rate of the second place holding in each generation. General Electric and Microsoft are the only other stocks to show up in each of the four lists.
In addition to these three stocks, other similarities exist across the generations. According to TD Ameritrade, Information Technology and Financials are the top two preferred sectors for each of the four generations.