MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich., March 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BetterInvesting members held an estimated $103.5 million of Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) stock at the end of 2012, as the company remained atop BetterInvesting Magazine's Top 100, a list of stocks most widely held by the association's members. McDonald's (MCD), Caterpillar (CAT) and Starbucks (SBUX) also made significant moves up to the top of the list, which employs information provided by the myICLUB.com investment club accounting service.

"Many of our members are long-term holders of Apple," says Adam Ritt, the magazine's editor and BetterInvesting's director of communications. "The company made a significant move to No. 3 on the list at year-end 2010 from No. 27 the year before. And back when the stock was under $100 in late 2008-early 2009, many investment clubs and their members were adding Apple to their portfolios, as they recognized the company's growth prospects and reasonable valuation."

Clubs are actively evaluating Apple's prospects for the next several years, with buy and sell activity recently at high levels. "Apple led in both buying and selling activity in February," Ritt said, citing data from myICLUB.com, which is operated by BetterInvesting subsidiary and developer of investment club software ICLUBcentral. 

BetterInvesting members typically seek well-managed companies with a demonstrated history of growing sales and earnings at relatively high rates and whose stocks are selling at reasonable prices. These long-term investors use BetterInvesting's online stock analysis tool and desktop program Toolkit 6 to evaluate a company's historical financial performance and investment suitability.

Meanwhile, McDonald's moved up from No. 16 to No. 6; Caterpillar, from No. 21 to No. 8; and Starbucks, from No. 28 to No. 18. The entire top 10 for 2012 is:

1. Apple (AAPL)
2. General Electric (GE)
3. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
4. Ford Motor Company (F)
5. Microsoft (MSFT)
6. McDonald's (MCD)
7. PepsiCo (PEP)
8. Caterpillar (CAT)
9. Intel (INTC)
10. Exxon Mobil (XOM)

"Though these are all large companies," Ritt said, "clubs particularly seek high-quality small and midsize companies." Bio-Reference Laboratories (BRLI), at No. 41 on the list, is one such example, moving up from No. 101 the year before. Other small and midsize companies in the Top 100 include Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), Celgene (CELG), Coach (COH), FactSet Research Systems (FDS), Fastenal (FAST), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), LKQ Corporation (LKQ), Quality Systems (QSII) and Stericycle (SRCL).

The full list of Top 100 companies, along with Nos. 101-200, is in the April issue of BetterInvesting. Subscriptions are available at the BetterInvesting store, with smartphone/tablet versions at the iTunes, Google Play and Amazon stores.

About BetterInvesting


BetterInvesting is a national nonprofit organization that has been empowering individual investors since 1951. Founded in Detroit, the association (formerly known as National Association of Investors Corporation) was borne out of the conviction that anyone can become a successful long-term investor by following commonsense investing practices. BetterInvesting has helped more than 5 million people become better, more informed investors by providing webinars, in-person events, easy-to-use online tools for analyzing stocks and mutual funds, a monthly magazine and a community of volunteers and like-minded investors. For more information about BetterInvesting, visit its website at www.betterinvesting.org or call toll free (877) 275-6242.

SOURCE BetterInvesting