Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Holdings Decreased by Horizon Investments LLC

Key Points

• Horizon Investments LLC reduced its Alphabet stake by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 51,307 shares and leaving it with 506,994 shares worth about $158.7 million.
• Alphabet’s recent AI momentum remains a major focus, with Google I/O showcasing new AI products and a $5 billion joint venture with Blackstone to build AI cloud infrastructure using Google TPU chips.
• The company also posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while analysts largely stayed constructive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a target price around $412.65.

Horizon Investments LLC decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 506,994 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 51,307 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.0% of Horizon Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Horizon Investments LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $158,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acorn Creek Capital LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 3,375 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,061 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $16,921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. Essex Bank boosted its stake in Alphabet by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Essex Bank now owns 27,422 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,583,000 after purchasing an additional 2,575 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its stake in Alphabet by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 3,118,760 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $976,175,000 after purchasing an additional 348,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 75,151 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $23,523,000 after purchasing an additional 8,736 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google I/O showcase highlighted a broad AI push across Search, Gemini, Workspace, shopping, coding, and video tools, reinforcing expectations that Google can monetize AI rather than just defend against competitors. Google debuts new AI models, personal AI agents in effort to keep pace with OpenAI and Anthropic
• Positive Sentiment: Google and Blackstone announced a $5 billion joint venture to build AI cloud infrastructure powered by Google’s TPU chips, which could expand demand for Alphabet’s custom silicon and strengthen its enterprise AI ecosystem. Google, Blackstone to create new AI cloud company, WSJ reports
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analysts turned more constructive after I/O, with firms including BofA, KeyCorp, Citizens JMP, Needham, and others reiterating or raising targets, signaling confidence that Alphabet’s AI strategy is gaining traction. Alphabet analyst forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet said Gemini now has 900 million monthly users and AI Overviews has 2.5 billion monthly users, showing that its AI products are already operating at significant scale. Google kicks off I/O conference with AI upgrades for coders, consumers
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet also introduced new AI-powered search and shopping features, including agentic tools and a universal cart, which could open additional monetization opportunities. Google's new Universal Cart wants to follow you across the entire internet
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider and shareholder sales were disclosed, including a director sale and a larger shareholder sale, but these appear to be routine filings rather than a clear signal of changing fundamentals. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Ofcom said YouTube and TikTok have not done enough to protect British children from harmful content, adding another layer of regulatory scrutiny for Alphabet’s YouTube business. TikTok, YouTube lag on UK child safety as rivals act, regulator says
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors worry that Google’s AI-heavy search redesign could pressure its core ad model by reducing reliance on the traditional “ten blue links” format. Google Search as you know it is over

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total transaction of $9,859,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,674,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $508,028,012.80. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,187,638.65. This trade represents a 22.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $388.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $334.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $320.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.00 and a 52-week high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for 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, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $412.65.

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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