Always keep one eye on the so-called smart money. Yes, hedge funds don't always live up to the hype, and they're renowned for charging an arm and a leg. But considering they represent more than $3 trillion in assets under management and have built a reputation of having stock-market savvy, it's good to know what they're putting their capital toward - and they're often putting it toward blue-chip stocks.

The folks at WalletHub keep regular tabs on stocks that hedge fund managers are buying, selling and holding every quarter. Combing through regulatory filings, WalletHub looks at the positions of more than 400 hedge funds, tallies their positions in individual stocks, then ranks those stocks by their total holdings value.

These stocks are massive in market value, ranging from the hundreds of billions of dollars to more than $1 trillion. Indeed, their very size helps attract more institutional interest. Unsurprisingly, then, most of these stock picks are household names - a number happen to belong to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway portfolio.

Here are hedge funds' 25 favorite blue-chip stocks to buy now. All these stocks likely appeal to the "smart money" because of their size and strong track records. But we'll delve into a few specifics that make each company special.

25. Citigroup

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As the nation's fourth-largest bank by both assets and market value, Citigroup (C, $67.97) is a natural fit for hedge funds looking for exposure to the financial sector. Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts have a "Buy" rating on Citigroup, noting that it "seems to be the one bank stock where the bad news is largely priced in."

Wall Street expects the money-center bank to generate average annual earnings growth of nearly 14% over the next three to five years, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Their average price target of $79.24 gives C stock implied upside of about 17% in the next 12 months or so.

The firm's massive market value, share liquidity and standing as one of the nation's biggest banks make it difficult for hedge funds to pass up. They're being handsomely rewarded for holding C shares in 2019 - Citigroup's stock is up more than 31% year-to-date vs. a gain of less than 18% for the S&P 500.

24. Thermo Fisher Scientific

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Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO, $292.78), the world's largest maker of scientific instruments, cracked the top 25 most popular hedge fund stocks last quarter, helped by big buys on the part of Marshall Wace, Viking Global Investors and Citadel Advisors.

Part of the allure for hedge funds could be simple price momentum; TMO stock is up 32% year-to-date to outpace most of the blue-chip stocks on this list. After number-crunching various technical indicators, StockReports+ from Refinitiv gives Thermo Fisher