5 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In Right Now

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- The stocks the "smart money" loves right now just may surprise you.

Professional investors have spent most of 2013 playing catch-up with the broad market indices. By and large, they were too slow to click "buy" when the rally kicked off last November, and they were too quick to hit "sell" when stocks temporarily corrected in June. As the S&P 500 hits its head on new all-time highs again this week, that's putting scores of fund managers in buy mode as we round the corner to August.

And a handful of their favorite names may come as a surprise. After all, for an industry that's focused on consumer-driven blue chips for most of the year, any move to out-of-favor tickers says a lot about portfolio managers' priorities. So today, we'll take a closer look atfive of their favorite surprise stocks.

To do that, we're focusing on 13F filings. Institutional investors with more than $100 million in assets are required to file a 13F -- a form that breaks down their stock positions for public consumption. From hedge funds to mutual funds to insurance companies, any professional investors who manage more than that $100 million watermark are required to file a 13F.

Best Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: Visa Inc.(V)

Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company owns and operates VisaNet, a global processing platform that provides transaction processing services. It also offers a range of payments platforms, which enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit, and prepaid payments, as well as cash access for consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company provides its payment platforms under the Visa, Visa Electron, PLUS, and Interlink brand names. In addition, it offers value-added services, including risk management, issuer processing, loyalty, dispute management, value-added information, and CyberSource-branded services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Getty Images Recent events like the data breach that affected Target (TGT) customers across the nation have made consumers think twice before using credit and debit cards. In particular, prepaid cards -- onto which customers load a certain amount of money, and which can be used anywhere that accepts debit cards -- have created a great deal of confusion, as many people aren't clear about whether they offer the same fraud protections as credit cards or debit cards. Moreover, with wide variations in fees, it can be hard to figure out which prepaid card is best for you. To make it easier for consumers to choose among prepaid cards, Visa (V) came out on June 3 with a new set of standards. Although issuers won't be required to follow those standards, those cards that meet the requirements will receive Visa's designation, which it hopes will spur customers to demand those positive characteristics. But do Visa's moves go far enough? Let's look. What Visa Did Some of the most important standards are for fees. Visa wants to see banks set flat monthly fees that include everything that cardholders would generally want to do with a prepaid card. Specifically, Visa wants prepaid card issuers not to charge separate fees for declined transactions, in-network ATM transactions, PIN or signature purchase transactions, getting cash back at the point of sale or general customer service. In addition, Visa wants cards not to charge overdraft fees or provide overdraft coverage, which makes sense given that the entire point of the prepaid card is to limit users to the amount loaded on the card. Moreover, Visa wants prepaid card issuers to communicate their fee structures clearly, using some of the same methods that they are now required to use with credit cards, such as fee boxes and simple disclosures. In addition, a quick-use guide for consumers will help them minimize the costs of using particular cards. Protecting the Consumer Visa is including several important provisions fo

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  But regardless of the merits, Alcoa (AA), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Bank of America (BAC) are being booted from the index and replaced with Visa (V), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Nike (NKE).

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) slipped 2.41% for the day, likely on the coattails of an earnings miss by rival MasterCard In. (NYSE: MA). Consumer finance stocks were near the top of today�� sector losers. Shares closed at $215.56 in a 52-week range of $154.14 to $235.50. Volume was about 70% above the daily average of around 3 million shares.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  What we would first refer you to is our prediction of the six major dividend hikes before the end of 2013. Then we would focus on Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) as well, even if it was not included in our recent dividend hike predictions. Frankly, it should have been obvious but for some reason was not.

5 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In Right Now: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. Its Global Technology Services segment provides IT infrastructure and business process services, including strategic outsourcing, process, integrated technology, and maintenance services, as well as technology-based support services. The company?s Global Business Services segment offers consulting and systems integration, and application management services. Its Software segment offers middleware and operating systems software, such as WebSphere software to integrate and manage business processes; information management software for database and enterprise content management, information integration, data warehousing, business analytics and intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics; Tivoli software for identity management, data security, storage management, and datacenter automation; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and so cial networking; rational software to support software development for IT and embedded systems; business intelligence software, which provides querying and forecasting tools; SPSS predictive analytics software to predict outcomes and act on that insight; and operating systems software. Its Systems and Technology segment provides computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, point-of-sale retail systems, and microelectronics. The company?s Global Financing segment provides lease and loan financing to end users and internal clients; commercial financing to dealers and remarketers of IT products; and remanufacturing and remarketing services. It serves financial services, public, industrial, distribution, communications, and general business sectors. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM was founded in 1910 and is based in Armonk, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  IBM is a technology company that provides valuable and essential products and services to consumers and companies around the world. The stock has been on a strong run extending back several years but has been in consolidation as of late. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been increasing while revenue figures have been decreasing, overall producing mixed feelings among investors. Relative to its peers and sector, IBM has been a poor year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what IBM does in coming quarters.

5 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)

Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Editor , Dividend Growth Investor]

  Philip Morris (PM), through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cigarettes and other tobacco products. The company has paid and consistently increased dividends every year since being spun-off from Altria Group (MO) in 2008. The last dividend increase was in September 2013, when the Board of Directors approved a 10.60% dividend increase in the quarterly distribution to 94 cents/share.

5 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Burrows]

  Rival Colgate-Palmolive (CL) has different concerns, namely sluggishness in emerging markets where it enjoys commanding market share and derives more than half its revenue.

• [By James Well]

  Analysts��Consensus Position on Pfizer
  
  Thirteen analysts including those at TheStreet, Thomson Reuters/Verus, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Barclays Capital, Morgan Stanley and Argus Research are optimistic about the performance of Pfizer going forward and, hence, reiterated a consensus buy recommendation at an average target price of $31.78 per share. Last Wednesday, analysts at Goldman Sachs removed Pfizer from Goldman�� conviction buy list (CL) where Pfizer has been since Aug. 9, 2011, and placed it on the buy list but raised its price target from $34 to $35 per share. Jami Rubin, an analyst with Goldman Sachs, claimed that Pfizer has gone up by 82.5% since being added to the CL as against 53.9% for the S&P 500 during the period and, therefore, there was the need to replace Pfizer with AbbVie at a price target of $60 because they claimed AbbVie has greater upside at this time.

• [By Douglas A. McIntyre]

  Some traditional brand powerhouses have lost ground in the Top 100 since 2009. These include BMW, FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL).

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Procter & Gamble have gained 0.1% to $81.44 at 2:06 p.m. today, while Unilever (UL) has risen 0.6% to $43.96, Colgate-Palmolive (CL) is little changed at $65.65 and Kimberly-Clark (KMB) has advanced 0.5% to $111.31.