Cooper Investors, an investment management firm, released its “Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund (Hedged)” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund returned 6.41% in the third quarter, compared to a 4.67% return for the MSCI ACWI 100% Hedged to AUD net dividends benchmark. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund (Hedged) highlighted stocks like Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), the parent company of Google, offers various platforms and services operating through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The one-month return of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was 0.97%, and its shares gained 19.72% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 18, 2024, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stock closed at $163.42 per share with a market capitalization of $2.021 trillion.
Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund (Hedged) stated the following regarding Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) operating performance remains strong with sales growing 14% in the most recent quarter. Highlights included the ongoing secular growth of digital advertising driving Google search (+14%), YouTube’s continued success as a leading content platform (+13%) and the performance of the Cloud business (+29%). In conjunction with this strong sales momentum, Alphabet’s increased focus on expenses is delivering margin expansion such that Operating Income grew 26%.
Despite this operational momentum, Alphabet’s share price declined 11% in the quarter as a federal judge ruled against the company in its case with the US Department of Justice. The case pertains to Google’s monopolisation of both the search and digital advertising markets which is claimed to limit competition and innovation and/or in
Potential remedies include prohibiting exclusive agreements which make Google the default search engine on Apple or Samsung devices, forcing Alphabet to share its advertising technology with rivals, or in the extreme breaking the company apart. The timing and outcomes remain somewhat uncertain however we remain of the belief that at the fundamental level Alphabet’s products are best of breed across several verticals and are benefitting from secular industry trends and that these factors will be the ultimate determinant of long-term shareholder returns.”
A user’s hands typing a search query into a Google Search box, emphasizing the company’s search capabilities.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is in 4th position on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 216 hedge fund portfolios held Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) at the end of the second quarter which was 222 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we discussed Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and shared the list of best stocks to buy for beginners. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.