Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Position Increased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management increased its Alphabet stake by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 54,211 more shares and bringing its total to 881,794 shares worth about $276 million.
• Alphabet’s recent business updates remain largely positive, with strong Q1 results, accelerating Google Cloud growth, and new AI products and search features helping support investor sentiment.
• The stock still faces notable risks, including an ongoing antitrust appeal and temporary setbacks at Waymo, even as analysts broadly remain constructive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating.

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 881,794 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 54,211 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 3.1% of QRG Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $276,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $63,000. Hedge funds and other 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 Q1 results were highlighted as one of the strongest among the Mag 7, with Google Cloud showing accelerating sales growth and broader AI momentum helping investor sentiment. Alphabet and NVIDIA: The Biggest Mag 7 Winners This Earnings Season
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s I/O announcements continued to reinforce Alphabet’s AI story, including new AI search experiences, agent tools, and upcoming AI glasses that suggest the company is expanding beyond traditional search. We tried Google's AI glasses and they're almost there
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with multiple firms reiterating positive views and new AI ad formats seen as potentially boosting conversions and monetization in Search and Commerce. Alphabet's new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled a $15 billion Missouri data center investment, underscoring continued capital spending to support AI infrastructure and cloud demand. Google Unveils $15 Billion Missouri Data Center Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles discussed Google’s revamped AI-driven search experience and agent ecosystem, which are strategically important but still too early to measure their near-term financial impact. Google is pitching an AI agent ecosystem to consumers who may not buy it
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo temporarily suspended service in multiple cities after robotaxis drove into flooded roads, adding another safety and execution concern for Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s appeal of the antitrust ruling remains the biggest overhang, since a loss or forced remedies could eventually weigh on the company’s core search and advertising economics. Google appeals US court ruling on search monopoly

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $382.97 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $162.00 and a one year high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $337.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $321.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. 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. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% 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, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061 in the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $412.65.

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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