5 Most Owned Stocks by Hedge Funds

4. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 204

The primary distinction between Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) lies in the voting rights associated with their shares. Class A shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) carry voting rights, whereas Class C Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) do not. It is one of the most owned stocks by hedge funds. According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, 204 hedge funds were bullish on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), compared to 209 funds in the prior quarter. 

Manole Capital Management made the following comment about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:

“Despite this, the S&P 500 is up 7% this year and the Nasdaq is up +11%. Technology rebounded from a challenging 2022 and many large tech companies are performing quite well this year. Through mid-May 2023, year-to-date performance of some of the most popular and largest tech names is impressive. For tech companies with market capitalizations over $1 trillion, Apple is up +35%, Microsoft +33%, Amazon +39%, and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is +40%. If you add in Nvidia, Google and Meta, you have three quarters of the entire S&P 500’s year-to-date return.

For our purposes, we are just going to focus on software digital wallets, as they are much more common and accessible. If you own an iPhone, then you have an Apple Pay preloaded digital wallet. If you have a Samsung phone, you have Samsung Pay available for use. Those two, along with Google Pay and PayPal, are the four most popular digital wallets today. According to the Payments Journal, PayPal has been used (over the last 12 months) by 62% of American consumers, followed by Apple Pay at 41% and Google Pay at 32%.

We are loyal Apple users (iPhones, iPads, iMac) and find their Apple Pay to be a convenient and safe digital wallet to use. It is currently accepted at more than 90% of US retailers, so it clearly has widespread adoption. Samsung and Google users also seem pleased with their preferred digital wallets. In our opinion, these new entrants are “a bit too late to the party” to make a meaningful dent versus established players.

As of today, both Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay have a distinct advantage in the digital wallet arena. These three firms have spent billions of dollars ensuring that their apps are easy to use on their smartphones. Plus, and maybe more importantly, the consumer experience is embedded and native to the operating system. This ties their digital wallet to the device, which cannot be replicated.”