Investors continue to pour money into passive vehicles such as indexed mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. However, good old-fashioned stock picking and asset allocation with a human touch still rules in some areas - including in the well-trodden world of blue-chip stocks.

After all, actively managed mutual funds run by professional portfolio managers still dwarf their passive cousins. At the end of 2017, actively managed funds had a total of $11.4 trillion in assets under management, according to Morningstar. Passive funds and ETFs controlled $6.7 trillion in assets.

As we've noted before, the "smart money" doesn't always live up to the high fees and hype, but it's worth keeping tabs on what they're doing nonetheless. That's even more true for actively managed mutual funds. After all, they comprise a much larger swath of institutional investor dollars.

Using data from Morningstar Direct, we were able to discover which blue-chip stocks are most widely held by the biggest actively managed U.S. mutual funds. In other words, these are the 25 most popular stock picks among professional portfolio managers.

Not every one of the following stocks is necessarily a buy at current levels, but it's fair to say that they are all superstar companies. And the most popular pick of all probably will surprise you.

#25: Pfizer

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Market value: $212.4 billion

Dividend yield: 3.6%

Analysts' opinion: 7 strong buy, 1 buy, 3 hold, 0 sell, 0 strong sell

As a blue-chip health-care stock with a massive market value, Pfizer (PFE, $36.22) is a natural choice for a wide swath of mutual funds seeking a balance of income and growth. For example, at T. Rowe Price (TROW), Pfizer can be found in 41 separate mutual funds, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Invesco (IVZ) offers 42 funds with stakes in Pfizer.

The Dow component has hiked its divided annually every year since 2010. At the same time, analysts expect steady, if unspectacular, bottom-line gains. Earnings per share are forecast to rise at an average annual rate of 6.5% for the next half-decade, according to data from Thomson Reuters.

Pfizer has been a market laggard over the past one-, three- and five-year periods, but its massive market value, attendant liquidity and blue-chip status should help maintain its popularity with active portfolio managers.

#24: AbbVie

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Market value: $155.9 billion

Dividend yield: 3.0%

Analysts' opinion: 8 strong buy, 0 buy, 8 hold, 0 sell, 1 strong sell

Pfizer might have a larger market, $97.58) is slightly more popular with mutual fund managers.