Google Inc (GOOGL) and eBay Inc (EBAY) Among Billionaires Top Picks Heading Into Q2

A total of 17 billionaires held $2.66 billion worth of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s class A stock in their funds’ portfolios by the end of the first three months as compared to 13 billionaires with $2.96 billion at the end of last year. Although down by about 3.2% over the year, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has appreciated by nearly 2.9% year-to-date. The search giant has decided to take a swing at the online payments industry and is planning to integrate buy buttons on its site, which would make purchases much easier. The orders will be fulfilled by third-party stores. Billionaire Mason Hawkins’ Southeastern Capital Management initiated a stake in Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the first quarter with about 913.51 million shares valued at $500.60 million.

eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) occupied the fourth spot as 17 billionaires had invested $7.29 billion in the company by the end of March, up from 16 funds with $6.73 billion at the end of the last year. eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY)’s stock has risen by nearly 5% so far this year. The $71.89 billion technology company is going to test a new ad unit called Promoted Listings next month. This will enable sellers to purchase premium positioning in search results by bidding 1% to 20% of a product’s final sale price. Under this system, sellers will only be charged by eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) if an adclick leads to a sale. Notorious billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn’s Icahn Capital holds about 46.27 million shares of eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) valued at $2.67 billion.

Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU)’s rank remained unchanged despite a slight increase to 17 billionaires with $3.09 billion invested in the company at the end of March as compared to 16 billionaires with $3.85 billion a quarter earlier. Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU)’s stock has depreciated by 12.19% so far this year. The Chinese-language internet search provider, recently has fired eight executives in connection with its recent bribery probe. Billionaire Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital decreased its stake in Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU)  by 25% during the first quarter to 5.28 million shares valued at $1.10 billion.

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