Why Tesla, Amazon, Alphabet, Zoetis, and Suncor Are Making Headlines Today

Alphabet’s Beefs Up its Self-Driving Team

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is in the spotlight after the technology giant hired dedicated general counsel Kevin Vosen for its self-driving car project. Good legal representation will be important for Alphabet given the potential for lawsuits over patent infringement and vehicle accidents. If Alphabet plays its cards right, the company’s self-driving car software could become the next Android. 155 funds in our database owned Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Class A shares at the end of March, while 142 were owners of the stock’s Class C shares.

Ackman Cuts Zoetis Stake

Given the company’s positive stock performance year-to-date, Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square has pared his stake in Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS). According to SEC filings, Ackman’s fund has cut his stake by 6.1 million shares, lowering his share of the company to 3.8% from 5.0%. Mr. Ackman selling shares doesn’t necessarily represent any sort of bad news for Zoetis shareholders. The company trades for a reasonable 21-times forward earnings estimates and has a strong moat. 48 funds that we follow had a long position in Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS) at the end of March, down by six from the end of December.

Suncor Bullish on Oil Sands

Suncor Energy Inc. (USA) (NYSE:SU) is trending after Bloomberg published an article on the energy company stating that Suncor’s CEO has doubled down on oil sands projects, even though the substance is more carbon intensive than traditional methods of unlocking crude. Suncor has spent $6 billion in acquisitions over the past year and plans to boost production to 800,000 BOE per day in 2019 from 600,000 BOE per day in 2015. Whether the deals will pay off depends on how much crude can be recovered from the sites. The number of firms in Insider Monkey’s database with holdings in Suncor Energy Inc. (USA) (NYSE:SU) rose by three quarter-over-quarter to 32 as of the end of March.

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