Top fund managers sought out high-quality stocks in the past few months to cope with market volatility, according to rating company Morningstar Corp.

“Most of the conviction buying that took place during the fourth quarter and early part of the first quarter was focused on high-quality names with defensible economic moats,” writes Morningstar analyst Eric Compton. An economic moat is the advantage a company has over its competitors, according to the term popularized by Warren Buffett.

The S&P 500 has fallen 3.5 percent since Dec. 31 after slightly rebounding from its worst start since 2009. The continued collapse in oil prices and signs of economic weakness in China spooked investors.

“Our top managers remained underweight in energy, utilities, and communication services relative to the weightings of those sectors in the S&P 500 TR Index at the end of December,” Compton says. “Our Ultimate Stock-Pickers have much greater exposure to the financial services, consumer defensive, and technology sectors, while holding moderately overweight positions in basic materials, consumer cyclical, and industrials names, with their exposure to real estate being more or less in line with the index.”

Morningstar: Ultimate Stock Pickers’ Top 10 Stock Holdings
1.    Microsoft (MSFT)
2.    Alphabet (GOOG)
3.    Wells Fargo (WFC)
4.    Oracle (ORCL)
5.    Procter & Gamble (PG)
6.    PepsiCo (PEP)
7.    Apple (AAPL)
8.    Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
9.    Comcst (CMCSA)
10.    Bank of America (BA)

Morningstar: Ultimate Stock Pickers’ Top 10 Stock Purchases
1.    American Express (AXP)
2.    VF Corp. (VFC)
3.    Aetna (AET)
4.    Ally Financial (ALLY)
5.    MasterCard (MS)
6.    EOG Resources (EOG)
7.    Union Pacific (UNP)
8.    PayPal (PYPL)
9.    Apple (AAPL)
10.    UnitedHealth Group (UNH)
Source: Morningstar

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