AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its Alphabet stake by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 47,659 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,014,714 shares worth about $317.6 million.
• Alphabet continues to draw strong Wall Street support, with several analysts raising price targets and maintaining buy/outperform ratings; the consensus target now stands at $407.86.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, including EPS of $5.11 versus $2.64 expected and revenue of $109.9 billion, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,014,714 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 47,659 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.8% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $317,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after purchasing an additional 4,008,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Alphabet by 28.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after buying an additional 11,605,785 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Alphabet by 15.7% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,333,076,000 after buying an additional 6,874,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,186,112 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,984,744,000 after buying an additional 1,034,292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is getting multiple bullish price-target and valuation upgrades, with one report citing an 11.2% increase in target to $410.17 and another framing the stock as still attractive despite its big recent run. Alphabet (GOOGL) price target increased by 11.20% to 410.17
• Positive Sentiment: Google expanded its AI push across Android and Gemini, unveiling new agentic features, AI-native laptops, and deeper integration into search and mobile workflows ahead of I/O. Everything Google announced at its Android Show, from Googlebooks to vibe-coded widgets
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Google and SpaceX are exploring orbital data centers add to the market’s view that Alphabet remains a leading AI infrastructure winner with long-term optionality. Report: Google and SpaceX in talks to put data centers into orbit
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Waymo business is still a positive catalyst overall as investors continue to reward the autonomous-driving unit’s growth, even though a recall creates near-term headlines. Why Alphabet stock is outperforming broader market today?
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reportedly backing Google’s pushback against EU AI rules, which may help Alphabet manage regulatory friction, but the outcome remains uncertain. Apple Sides With Google In Fighting EU's AI Measures
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet-backed Isomorphic Labs raised $2.1 billion to scale AI-driven drug discovery, which reinforces Alphabet’s AI ecosystem but is not an immediate core earnings driver. Google-backed Isomorphic raises $2.1 billion to scale AI-driven drug discovery
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo’s recall of nearly 3,800 robotaxis over a software issue is a setback for Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit and could invite more scrutiny from regulators. Waymo to recall nearly 3,800 robotaxis over self-driving software issue

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Freedom Capital cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. President Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $407.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856 in the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $402.62 on Thursday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $325.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $315.72. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.61 and a 12-month high of $403.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

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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