These Are Intermede Partners’ Top Stock Picks Following Buying Spree

#2 Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

– Shares Owned by Intermede Investment Partners (as of March 31): 837,342

– Value of Holding (as of March 31): $51.14 million

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is the only stock in this list in which Intermede Investment Partners raised its stake by less than 40% during the first quarter. Despite the fund increasing its stake in the company by 20% during that period, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) lost its spot as Intermede Investment Partners’ top stock pick at the end of first quarter. Shares of the media and technology giant have seen a gradual rise since mid-January this year due to which they are currently trading up almost 10% year-to-date. On April 27, the company reported mixed numbers for its fiscal 2016 first quarter. While it managed to beat Street’s EPS expectations of $0.79 by declaring EPS of $0.84 for the quarter, the revenue of $17.85 billion it reported was well below analysts’ estimate of $18.68 billion. On April 29, Comcast Corporation announced that it will be acquiring  Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA) for $3.8 billion or $41 per share in an all-cash deal. Some analysts believe that Comcast Corporation is overpaying for this deal because Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA)’s business has been on a continuous decline over the past few years and the prospects of a turnaround are dim. Eric Sprott‘s Sprott Asset Management reduced its stake in Comcast Corporation by 35% to 56,400 shares during the first quarter.

#1 Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)

– Shares Owned by Intermede Investment Partners (as of March 31): 69,079

– Value of Holding (as of March 31): $51.46 million

Finally, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) was another stock in which Intermede Investment Partners increased its stake by 42% during the first quarter. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock is currently trading down over 10% year-to-date owing largely to the decline it has seen recently after the company came out with its first quarter numbers. While the Street had expected the company to report EPS of $7.96 on revenue of $20.37 billion for the quarter, Alphabec declared EPS of $7.50 on revenue of $20.26 billion. Among the reasons why Alphabet missed the expectations are higher traffic acquisition costs for its Google segment, an operating loss of $802 million in its Other Bets segment and weakness of other currencies versus the US dollar during the quarter. Despite the lower-than-expected first-quarter results, most analysts continue to remain bullish on Alphabet. On April 24, analysts at RBC Capital reiterated their ‘Outperform’ rating and $1,000 price target on the stock. Sandy Nairn‘s Edinburgh Partners reduced its stake in the company marginally during the first quarter, by 4% to 74,122 shares.

Disclosure: None