RBC: Hedge funds are piling into these 12 stocks unlike any others on the market

Getty Images / Joe Raedle

• RBC Capital Markets has identified the stocks that major hedge funds bought the most new positions in during the second quarter.
• These so-called rockets usually shoot higher while they're being bought and continue rallying after, albeit at a slower pace, according to RBC.

The most popular stocks among hedge funds saw little turnover during the second quarter, according to regulatory filings parsed by RBC Capital Markets.

Tech stocks like Facebook and Microsoft remained the darlings even after much public scrutiny over how they handle users' data.

Beyond the most popular names, RBC also examined the stocks that hedge funds added the most new positions in last quarter. Lori Calvasina, RBC's head of US equity strategy, calls these rockets.

"Rockets usually shoot straight up while being bought and keep climbing afterwards (though the speed slows and the ride gets bumpy)," she said in a note on Tuesday.

The list below highlights the stocks that hedge funds piled into during the second quarter, in ascending order of the number of new positions. It's based on RBC's study of 340 major hedge funds. It comes with the usual disclaimer that hedge funds may have changed their positions since the quarterly 13-F filings were released.