2. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Cantillon Capital Management’s Stake Value: $647,894,000
Percentage of Cantillon Capital Management’s 13F Portfolio: 5.4%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 153
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), the American technology conglomerate. announced the release of the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro on October 6 with significant camera upgrades. In addition, the new smartphones come with a number of significant improvements, including new Tensor G2 chips from Google and improved AI-powered apps like Google Assistant.
On October 4, BofA analyst Justin Post maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) while trimming his price objective to $114 from $125. Due to the anticipated top-down effects of a Western economic GDP slump as well as potential headwinds from TikTok commercialization, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s ad growth and new ad-supported streaming competitors, he has lowered his estimates for both Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META).
Cantillon Capital Management held 297,300 shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) on June 30, amounting to a $647.89 million stake and representing 5.4% of the fund’s portfolio. 153 hedge funds from the second quarter database of Insider Monkey reported long bets on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), with combined stakes worth $22.30 billion. One of the firm’s notable shareholders is Chris Hohn’s TCI Fund Management, which recently increased its stake by 5%, equalling $5.42 billion.
In its Q2 2022 investor letter, Lakehouse Capital mentioned Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). Here is what the fund said:
“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) reported another strong quarterly result despite the tough macroeconomic conditions. Revenue increased by 13% as Search proved resilient, primarily led by strength in the travel and retail verticals. YouTube advertising growth was lighter and moderated due to a tough comparison period and a general softening in brand advertising spend. That said, YouTube’s user engagement and time spent still continues to grow which bodes well for future monetisation opportunities. Google Cloud outpaced the company’s overall growth with revenue increasing by 36% and while it has yet to show any signs of profitability, we remain supportive of Alphabet continuing to reinvest in its cloud business given the size of the market opportunity ahead. On the cost front, the company added another 10,000 employees during the quarter, but notably, the CFO mentioned that hiring will likely slow down over the next twelve months as the company focuses on greater operating efficiency. Overall, we’re pleased with how the company has performed and are confident that management will be able to control costs, if or when the economic environment becomes more challenging.”
