Merrill Lynch's Big Cap Tech Picks for a Nasdaq Breakout!

One of the strange quirks of the stock market is sometimes it actually has to go way up before aggressive buyers step-in. This odd anomaly is actually called a buyer capitulation, and it is very similar to when sellers finally give in and throw in the towel at the end of a market sell-off. A new report from Merrill Lynch cites not only buyers finally stepping in big, but very positive technical support that could help to lift the markets to yet another round of new highs.

In their report, the Merrill Lynch analysts noted a clear path higher for the tech-heavy Nasdaq. They also cited a clear preference for the big cap tech leaders.

The Merrill Lynch team says the message from the Nasdaq stock price action and the Nasdaq market breadth is to focus on large cap tech stocks in the index and be selective elsewhere. The good thing for investors is that even in the event of a correction, these tech leaders will hold up far better than the momentum darlings. With a pricey market, that makes good sense.

Here are the seven names that Merrill Lynch likes for a Nasdaq breakout.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is the largest market cap stock in the technology sector and just completed a historic and massive seven-for-one stock split. Excitement over the new iPhone 6 is starting to gain traction as rumors of a larger screen and other new improvements are getting the Apple nation stirred up. Plus with a huge earnings beat, the stock split, an increased dividend and share buybacks, the company seems right back on its game.

Trading at just 12 times forward earnings, Apple’s stock remains a solid tech part of a portfolio. Shareholders are paid a 2.1% dividend. The stock is rated neutral at Merrill Lynch, with a $95 price target. The consensus price target for Apple is $94.45. The shares closed Tuesday at $90.28.

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Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the number one security hardware vendor. Big business has made it abundantly clear that security is a top priority now and going forward. With Fortune 500 companies getting hacked and thousands upon thousands of customers having vital data compromised, this doesn’t look like it will change anytime soon.

Investors are paid a solid 3.1% dividend. Cisco is rated a Buy at Merrill Lynch, and the firm has a $28 price target. The consensus estimate is at $25.63. Cisco closed Tuesday at $24.53.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is slowly but surely starting to dominate every nook and cranny of technology. The undisputed leader in search, it has a very solid cloud offering, new forays into everything from driverless cars to home thermostat and infrastructure control. Add in a thriving Android OS platform for smartphones and tablets, home content controls to rival Apple, and the company is simply continuing to grow at a frantic pace and maul the competition.

A huge stock split has made the stock at least somewhat affordable, albeit on a small scale. The Merrill Lynch price target for the stock, which they have rated at Buy, is $660. The consensus is set at $660.88. Google closed Tuesday at $564.62.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) is rated Buy at Merrill Lynch, and it has finally reemerged in to the tech spotlight after years of trading sideways and posting up-and-down sales. A resurgence of buying in personal computers for home and corporate upgrades has helped to lift earnings again. Also, a focused effort to add mobile computing, smartphones and tablets to the iconic Silicon Valley giant’s menu has helped to turn things around.

Intel has also developed a customizable technology that could significantly brighten the prospects of its highly profitable server chip division. Investors are paid a solid 3% dividend. The Merrill Lynch price target stands at $34, and the consensus target is $29.64. Intel shares closed at $30.50.

Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) has sputtered over the last year, but has finally started to perk up, despite a recent earnings miss. The company has finally announced the much anticipated deal to acquire MICROS Systems in a deal in which Oracle acquired the provider of point-of-sale hardware and related services.

The technology giant is also making a push into cloud computing, application virtualization and software-defined networking. Application virtualization and software-defined networking should be key areas of revenue growth going forward. Shareholders are paid a 1.2% dividend. Merrill Lynch has a $46 price target on the stock, which they have rated at a Buy. The consensus price target is $43.81. Oracle closed Tuesday at $40.76.

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SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) is one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of flash memory storage drives. The burgeoning demand for SanDisk’s products and the increase in price of its micro SD cards contributed to the rise in margins. Most mobile phone manufacturers now provide a card slot in their devices, leading to increased demand for memory cards. Customers looking to store more data have led to the growth of micro SD cards, pushing up demand in the process.

The company’s alliance with Apple, which just placed major NAND flash orders with SanDisk, is increasing the odds the company will continue to be among the leaders dominating flash memory storage. Investors are paid a 0.9% dividend. Merrill Lynch has the stock rated Buy with a $125 target. The consensus price target is $109.89. SanDisk closed Tuesday at $102.13.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) is an old-school name to make the list of big cap stocks to buy. The venerable chip giant has a 24% exposure to the industrial end markets and has paid solid dividends to investors for years.

TI recently announced it is shipping in volume production, the industry’s smallest, most efficient wireless power receiver to support both the Wireless Power Consortium’s (WPC) Qi 1.1 and Power Matters Alliance (PMA) specifications. Investors are paid a very respectable 2.5% dividend. The Merrill Lynch price objective is $53, and the consensus price target is at $49.17. Texas Instruments closed Tuesday at $47.71.