Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Bought by Ethic Inc.

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its Alphabet stake by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 36,618 more shares and bringing its total to 592,811 shares worth about $185.6 million. Alphabet is now Ethic’s fourth-largest holding.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $5.11 per share topping estimates of $2.64 and revenue of $109.9 billion beating expectations. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on GOOGL, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $412.65. Several firms recently raised targets, including Citizens JMP at $515 and New Street Research at $450.

Ethic Inc. grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 592,811 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 36,618 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.8% of Ethic Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $185,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,333,076,000 after purchasing an additional 6,874,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,186,112 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,984,744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,292 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $388.83 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.00 and a 52 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 has a 50 day moving average of $342.73 and a 200-day moving average of $323.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The company 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 6.41%.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is testing Gemini-powered Search ads, including conversational and contextual ad formats that could improve monetization and help offset concerns that AI search may weaken its core advertising model.
• Positive Sentiment: Google and CrowdStrike helped take down a botnet targeting open-source software developers, reinforcing Alphabet’s cybersecurity capabilities and its role in defending the broader internet ecosystem.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports around Google I/O and Alphabet’s broader AI lineup, including new Gemini features and AI search tools, suggest the company is still aggressively innovating to defend its leadership in search and advertising.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s $15 billion Missouri AI data hub investment highlights long-term infrastructure spending to support AI growth, but the near-term stock impact is likely limited.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet has drawn market focus from traders and analysts, with prediction-market activity suggesting shares may stay near current levels in the short term.
• Negative Sentiment: DuckDuckGo reported rising installs as some users respond negatively to Google’s AI Search overhaul, raising investor concerns that the redesign could push a portion of users toward competitors.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged that one Google AI Search result was “more opinionated than it should be,” underscoring the risk of AI accuracy issues and potential user trust problems.
• Negative Sentiment: Federal prosecutors charged a Google employee with insider trading tied to Polymarket bets, creating a reputational overhang even though the case appears to involve an individual employee rather than core business operations.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of several research reports. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $515.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. New Street Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, China Renaissance lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOGL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report).

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.