Is Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) A Good Stock To Buy Now?

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Viking Global, managed by Andreas Halvorsen, holds the largest position in Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Viking Global has a $1.44 billion position in the stock, comprising 5.4% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Lansdowne Partners holding a $1.07 billion position; 7.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other members of the smart money that hold long positions contain Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Keith Meister’s Corvex Capital.

As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers have been driving this bullishness. Corvex Capital initiated the largest position in Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Corvex Capital had $583.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management also made a $410.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new GOOGL positions are Cantillon Capital Management, Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital, and James Crichton’s Hitchwood Capital Management.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) but similarly valued. These stocks are Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-B), and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to GOOGL’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of less than 100 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $15.3 billion. That figure was $29.2 billion in GOOGL’s case. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is the least popular one with only 68 bullish hedge fund positions. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.