Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management increased its Alphabet stake by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, buying 47,766 additional shares and bringing its total to 580,828 shares valued at about $181.8 million.
• Alphabet continues to draw positive analyst and investor attention, with multiple firms raising or reiterating buy ratings and a consensus price target of $413.13, while headlines point to strong momentum in AI and cloud growth.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 580,828 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 47,766 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.5% of Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $181,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co grew its position in Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 Gemini app reportedly doubled its monthly users to 900 million, reinforcing the company’s momentum in consumer AI and supporting the case that its AI investments are translating into real usage.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remains constructive, with one report citing TD Cowen’s view that Alphabet could rise further by 2027, reflecting ongoing confidence in its earnings power and AI/cloud growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was highlighted as a long-term value-and-growth story, with its search cash engine funding a growing cloud and AI franchise at what some analysts view as an attractive valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s recent convertible preferred offering and related financing coverage suggest it still has strong access to capital as it expands AI infrastructure, which can help fund growth initiatives.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s large AI spending plans remain a key debate, with some analysts warning that rising capex could weigh on near-term profitability even if it supports future growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position change, so it does not appear to be a major driver of the stock move.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports linking Alphabet to major AI compute deals and supplier arrangements, including Google Cloud usage by other tech firms, reinforce its strategic importance in AI but are not directly tied to near-term earnings.
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles focus on pressure from Alphabet’s aggressive AI infrastructure spending, including concerns that capex could compress margins and make investors more cautious about the stock’s high expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: One report specifically warned that Alphabet’s net profit margin deserves closer scrutiny after the stock’s strong run, suggesting investors may be increasingly sensitive to any slowdown in profitability.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. HSBC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $435.00 target price (up from $427.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3%

GOOGL stock opened at $364.26 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.00 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The company has a market cap of $4.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $356.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $329.17.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

About Alphabet

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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