Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Bought by Baron Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its Alphabet stake by 47.8% in Q1, buying 3,332 more shares to bring its total to 10,297 shares valued at about $2.96 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive: several firms raised price targets, and Alphabet currently has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $413.13.
• Alphabet’s fundamentals were solid in the latest quarter, with EPS of $5.11 beating estimates and revenue of $109.9 billion topping forecasts; the company also recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 47.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,297 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,332 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.9% of Baron Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Baron Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,534,239,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $4,338,397,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 855.3% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,546,413,000 after buying an additional 13,004,828 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after buying an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. President Capital raised their price objective on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Dbs Bank boosted their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.13.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet will replace Verizon in the Dow Jones Industrial Average effective June 29, a notable prestige boost that could support passive fund buying and improve investor sentiment. Alphabet Set to Join and Honeywell International to Remain in Dow Jones Industrial Average
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies reaffirmed its Buy rating on Alphabet, reinforcing confidence in the company’s long-term outlook. Alphabet had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet remains a major AI infrastructure beneficiary, with reports noting accelerating demand at Google Cloud, quarterly cloud revenue above $20 billion, and strong enterprise AI adoption. Alphabet Rides on Accelerating AI Infrastructure Demand: What's Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Google DeepMind announced a $75 million AI research partnership with A24, signaling continued investment in AI applications outside core search and cloud. Google DeepMind signs AI research deal with film studio A24
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is still dominant in search, but new reports suggest competition from AI-powered alternatives is putting pressure on its long-term search leadership. Google's online dominance Is showing signs of cracking in AI era
• Negative Sentiment: Investor sentiment was hurt by the departure of key AI figures, including Noam Shazeer and John Jumper, raising concerns that Alphabet is losing talent to OpenAI and Anthropic. Alphabet paces for worst day in a year on AI concerns after high-profile exits
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports say Google’s search dominance may be starting to crack as users test non-AI or AI-free search options, adding pressure on the company’s core revenue engine. Google Losing Ground as Consumers Seek Out Non-AI Search
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market concern over heavy AI capital spending and higher rates also weighed on megacap tech shares, contributing to Alphabet’s weakness. Alphabet, SpaceX, Intel, and More Stocks That Explain Today's Market

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 160,516 shares of company stock worth $7,344,604 in the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $346.66 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $166.13 and a 12-month high of $408.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's 50-day moving average is $368.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $332.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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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