Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Heartland Bank & Trust Co's 7th Largest Position

Key Points

• Heartland Bank & Trust increased its Alphabet stake by 4.2% in the first quarter to 37,398 shares worth approximately $10.75 billion, making Alphabet its seventh-largest holding and 2.4% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 40.03% of Alphabet.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with $119.8 billion in revenue and $9.11 in EPS, while Google Cloud growth and early AI monetization supported a bullish analyst outlook. The stock has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $419.86.
• Key risks include planned 2026 capital spending of roughly $195 billion to $205 billion on AI infrastructure, concerns about cash returns and potential dilution, as well as ongoing European antitrust claims and other regulatory pressures.

Heartland Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,398 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,499 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.4% of Heartland Bank & Trust Co's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Heartland Bank & Trust Co's holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $45,625,595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Alphabet by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $21,630,861,000 after purchasing an additional 3,218,852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s second-quarter results showed $119.80 billion in revenue and $112.19 billion in net income, while Google Cloud growth and early AI monetization helped reinforce the long-term investment case. Several analysts remain bullish; Phillip Securities upgraded the stock to “strong buy,” and KeyCorp raised its fiscal 2028 EPS estimate to $17.88 while maintaining an “Overweight” rating and a $445 price target. Alphabet Q2 earnings analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to attract support from value investors and dip buyers, with reports indicating that prominent investors increased their positions. The company also secured a multiyear agreement to bring Peacock content to YouTube Premium subscribers, potentially strengthening YouTube’s subscription and content ecosystem. Investors increase Alphabet positions
• Neutral Sentiment: The broader technology market is volatile ahead of major Big Tech earnings and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision. That macro uncertainty may be contributing to sharp moves in Alphabet despite its strong fundamentals. Wall Street rebounds ahead of FOMC
• Negative Sentiment: The primary overhang is Alphabet’s plan to spend roughly $195 billion to $205 billion on 2026 capital expenditures, largely for AI infrastructure. Investors are questioning whether the spending will generate adequate returns after Alphabet reportedly posted negative free cash flow for the first time as a public company and paused buybacks under its prior program. A proposed $69.24 billion Class C stock shelf could also raise dilution concerns. Alphabet AI spending and cash concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet faces additional legal and regulatory risk. European rivals are lining up potential private damages claims after Google lost an initial case under new EU competition rules, while Waymo faces possible federal requirements concerning emergency-response procedures. Major-shareholder sales disclosed in recent SEC filings are a smaller, but potentially negative, sentiment signal. Google faces potential European damages claims

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and issued a $460.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $419.86.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.2%

GOOGL stock opened at $333.71 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.82 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.24. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $360.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $339.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 18,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 285,049 shares of company stock worth $10,051,351 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.