Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Bought by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Key Points

• Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its Alphabet stake by 5.1% in the first quarter, buying 41,453 more shares and lifting its holding to 846,668 shares worth about $243.5 million.
• Alphabet’s latest quarter beat expectations, with EPS of $9.11 versus $2.89 expected and revenue of $119.8 billion versus $117.1 billion forecast. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share.
• Analysts remain largely bullish on Alphabet, with several raising price targets and the consensus rating sitting at Buy. However, investors are watching concerns around higher AI-related capex and a recent EU fine.

Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 846,668 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 41,453 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.5% of Wealthfront Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $243,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,534,239,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in Alphabet by 855.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,546,413,000 after acquiring an additional 13,004,828 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 28,950.0% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,291,926 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,671,986,000 after purchasing an additional 9,259,940 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Arete Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $440.00 target price (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. New Street Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Pivotal Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 price target (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $419.86.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Q2 results showed strong underlying demand, including an 82% surge in Google Cloud revenue and continued growth in Search and YouTube, reinforcing that its core businesses are still expanding. Google Cloud CEO Kurian says customers are spending 50% more as segment blows away expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Barclays argued that a TPU-as-a-service offering could materially lift Alphabet’s long-term profitability, suggesting the market may be underestimating future AI monetization. TPU-As-A-Service could boost Google’s 2028 profit by over 15%: Barclays
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon signed a more than $1 billion dark-fiber deal to support Google’s data centers, underscoring ongoing infrastructure demand tied to Alphabet’s AI and cloud expansion. Verizon signs deal with Google worth over $1 billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet was included in a momentum screen highlighting stocks with strong earnings and favorable price trends, which is supportive but not a major stock-specific catalyst. 3 High-Momentum Stocks to Buy Now Before They Surge
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position, so this does not appear to be a major driver of the move.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried that Alphabet’s AI spending is becoming too large, with the company increasing 2026 capex guidance and reporting negative free cash flow for the first time in years. Alphabet earnings takeaways: Q2 revenue beats, GOOGL stock sinks on 2026 capex hike
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet also faced fresh regulatory pressure after the European Commission fined Google about $1 billion under the Digital Markets Act. Google hit with $1 billion EU fine, first under landmark rules
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo reportedly may try to end its partnership with Uber, which could create uncertainty around one of Alphabet’s autonomous-driving distribution channels. Waymo reportedly mulling a breakup with Uber

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $319.74 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.82 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $362.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $338.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 17.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.