Alphabet unseats Facebook as favorite stock among hedge funds

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, left, and Google CEO Larry Page

Google parent Alphabet recaptured its place as hedge-fund darling in the second quarter this year, breaking a recent tie with Facebook.

In a rating of hedge funds’ top 10 holdings, 16 held Alphabet in the most recent quarter, topping the 15 hedge funds holding Facebook, Citi Research analyst Tobias Levkovich wrote in a note Thursday.

Facebook lost its tie among hedge-fund favorites with Alphabet from the first quarter of 2017, when 13 funds held shares of both tech companies in their top 10. The social media behemoth was gaining momentum from a dip after tying in the second quarter of 2016, but ceded ground most recently to Time Warner and NXP Semiconductors.

“Six of the top seven names owned by hedge funds are in the Information Technology sector,” Levkovich said.

Mutual funds overwhelmingly love Microsoft, the reigning champion for the last five quarters, but the blue chip stock is less favored among hedge funds. Apple ranks even further behind, as a top 10 holding for only five hedge funds.