Here Is What Got Investors Talking about These Tech Giants

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is trending higher today, as the parent of Google managed to defeat most claims in a suit related to privacy issues. Four users have accused the company of using loopholes in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Safari browser and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Internet Explorer to bypass their cookie blockers and help advertisers identify potential customers. A three-judge panel from Philadelphia upheld a previous decision to dismiss charges, as plaintiffs did not prove they suffered any damage as a result of Google tracking their activity.

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has a lot of admirers in the hedge fund world, as 115 elite funds reported ownership of Class A shares and 107 funds had Class B shares in their portfolios at the end of the second quarter. The combined value of their holdings was in excess of $16.7 billion and accounted for roughly 2.3% of each type of shares outstanding. Tiger Cub Andreas Halvorsen is a big fan, having increased his holding of the stock to 2.73 million Class A shares and 1.14 million Class C shares at the end of June.

In other news, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s director Marc Andreessen has continued reducing his holding of the stock, now at 757,311 Class A shares, less than 1% of outstanding stock, which equals approximately half of what he owned at the end of October. According to a recent Form 4 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Andreessen has sold 301,048 shares of Facebook at prices ranging between $105.94 and $110.63 per share on November 5 and 6. He may also be deemed a beneficiary of 379,429 Class B supervoting shares.

The third most popular stock among the hedge funds in our database, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) was held by 133 top funds at the end of June. However, together they owned a minor, 2.3% of the company’s outstanding stock, then valued at $8.85 billion. Billionaire Ken Griffin sees great upside potential for Facebook with his fund, Citadel Investment Group, having disclosed ownership of 5.06 million shares at the end of June, up by 176% over the quarter. Stephen Mandel and Lone Pine Capital are also betting big on this stock, having increased their stake by 21% to 9.76 million shares.

Sales of iPad Pro, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s latest generation of tablets, have commenced today, with the 12.9 inch tablet already available online and set to hit the stores later this week. Unlike previous generations of iPads, the Pro’s key target audience is the business segment and analysts expect this could help the Cupertino-based tech giant to reverse the negative tablet trend. Sales of iPads have been declining as iPhones have gotten bigger, thus diminishing the need for a tablet. FBR & Co’s Daniel Ives believes the Pro could push iPad sales to roughly 15% of Apple’s revenues, up from approximately 10% today. FBR has also reiterated their Outperform rating for Apple and the $175 price target.

One of Carl Icahn‘s favorite stocks, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the second most popular stock at the end of June, according to our database. A total 144 elite hedge funds have reported long positions in the tech giant, which amounted to 2.9% of the company’s common stock. Icahn himself held 52.7 million shares, his largest equity holding after Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP). Ken Fisher is also betting big on this stock, reporting some 11.12 million shares in the current round of 13F filings.

Disclosure: none.