Harvard University Stock Portfolio: Top 5 Picks

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1. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Harvard Management Company’s Stake Value: $262,769,000

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 153

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been part of the Harvard University stock portfolio since Q2 2018, with minor breaks over the years. In Q2 2022, the hedge fund boosted its Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) stake by 39%, holding 2.4 million shares worth $262.7 million and representing 30.42% of the total 13F securities. 

On October 27, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced that it has introduced a Blockchain Node Engine (“BNE”) based on Google Cloud for Ethereum projects, in a bid to enhance its presence in the web3 space. Ethereum will be the first blockchain supported by BNE. Using BNE, web3 firms can perform transactions, deploy smart contracts, and read or write blockchain data directly on Google Cloud.

Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein on October 26 maintained an Outperform rating on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) after the Q3 results but trimmed the price target on the shares to $135 from $155 to reflect lower 2023 estimates on the back of softer first half of the year and slower headcount growth. 

According to Insider Monkey’s data, 153 hedge funds were long Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) at the end of Q2 2022, compared to 160 funds in the prior quarter. Chris Hohn’s TCI Fund Management is a significant position holder in the company, with 2.4 million shares worth $5.4 billion. 

Bronte Capital made the following comment about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q3 2022 investor letter:

Consensus longs—those stocks widely held and admired by fund managers—have recently underperformed the market. Consensus shorts have been bad shorts. We have over 500 shorts, of which a few are consensus, and we have noticed this effect. But we also own what we think is (alas) the most consensus long in this market: Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). We find it hard to find any strong reason not to own it. Internet advertising is going from strength to strength and Google’s place in the market is mostly improving. Some of the other bets such as cloud services are beginning to pay off, and finally the CEO is expressing discipline on costs. (Per the consensus, the biggest problem with Google has been a lack of discipline on costs. Every time we look there are another 20 thousand employees.) Being a consensus long, it is down hard. We did say consensus longs are not going well…” (Click here to read the full text)

Follow Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

You can also take a look at 15 Best Large Cap Dividend Growth Stocks To Buy and Top 10 ESG Companies in 2022

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