Hedge funds currently command some $3 trillion in assets under management. They're where millionaires and even billionaires put their cash to work. That alone makes them worth keeping an eye on - and one thing that's fairly consistent is their love for blue-chip stocks.

Sure, hedge funds aren't what they used to be. Wall Street's former masters of the universe have lagged the performance of the S&P 500 throughout the bull market. And as the ultimate example of active management, they charge exorbitant fees. But heavy investment research helps hedge fund managers lay claim to being Wall Street's "smart money."

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 are primarily massive blue-chip stocks, 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 big, stable names known to most Americans. A substantial 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. Broadcom

Getty Images

Semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom (AVGO, $315.42), a wireless-tech specialist, offers investors a history of hefty dividend growth as well as exposure to the next big thing in telecommunications. Analysts say AVGO is a great way to play the coming tsunami of 5G technology.

"In our view, 5G could prove to be one of the more compelling and investible themes in semis, driven by the exponential growth in components required to upgrade approximately 1.4 billion 4G smartphones and several hundred million IoT (Internet of Things) devices," writes BofA Global Research analyst Vivek Arya, who has a Buy rating on the stock.

Wall Street is broadly bullish on the name, and institutional investors have to like its growth prospects. Broadcom is forecast to deliver long-term earnings growth of more than 12% a year over the next three to five years, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Broadcom is a dividend-growth play, to boot. Since 2014, AVGO's payout has exploded by roughly 830%, from 35 cents per share quarterly to its current $3.25.

24. Medtronic

Getty Images

Any big fund looking to diversify its holdings with health-care stocks probably can't afford to ignore Medtronic (MDT, $113.52).

After all, Medtronic is one of the world's largest makers of medical devices, holding more than 4,600 patents on products ranging from insulin pumps for diabetics to stents used by cardiac surgeons. Look