6,325 Shares in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Acquired by R Squared Ltd

Key Points

• R Squared Ltd initiated a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter, buying 6,325 shares valued at about $1.82 million. The stake now represents roughly 1.0% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Institutional interest in Alphabet remains strong, with hedge funds and other investors owning about 40.03% of the company. Several firms recently increased their holdings, according to the filing.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: Alphabet carries an average rating of “Moderate Buy” with a consensus price target of $413.73, while recent commentary highlighted AI momentum and earnings strength as supportive factors.

R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,325 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,819,000. Alphabet comprises about 1.0% of R Squared Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $416,217,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $277,696,000 after buying an additional 93,293 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 274,761 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $86,000,000 after acquiring an additional 23,107 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $25,679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $28,902,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Zacks Research raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $390.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.73.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Warren Buffett said he initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s Alphabet investment, a high-profile endorsement that is helping sentiment around Alphabet (GOOGL). Warren Buffett tells CNBC he initiated Berkshire Hathaway's investment in Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst previews say Alphabet’s AI momentum, cloud backlog, and earnings growth expectations could support another strong quarter, keeping investors upbeat ahead of results. Alphabet’s AI Spending Question Looms Over Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Alphabet to strong-buy, citing earnings growth expectations and attractive fundamentals relative to its valuation. Zacks upgrade to strong-buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet expanded its clean-energy commitments with its largest solar and battery storage purchase yet, which supports its long-term infrastructure strategy but is not an immediate earnings driver. Google's biggest clean power project is 40 miles north of xAI's unpermitted gas power plant
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also drew attention for a new collaboration with INVIDI Technologies to extend addressable advertising to set-top boxes, a potentially helpful ad-tech expansion but still early-stage. INVIDI Technologies Collaborates with Google to Integrate Google Ad Manager
• Negative Sentiment: The European Commission is preparing new fines against Google, renewing regulatory risk and adding pressure to Alphabet’s legal overhang. EU Prepares to Fine Google as Part of Increased Big Tech Enforcement
• Negative Sentiment: Google is also fighting antitrust scrutiny in Europe and Switzerland, including efforts to preserve a court ruling that overturned a $1.7 billion EU fine and a new Swiss probe over Android search defaults. Google urges EU top court to back ruling scrapping $1.7 billion antitrust fine
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reports raised concerns about Google’s AI search tools and a DeepMind researcher’s resignation over the company’s Pentagon work, both of which could add reputational risk. A DeepMind researcher resigned over its AI military deal

Alphabet Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $370.92 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $180.48 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $370.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $337.62. The company has a market cap of $4.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.

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