Arizona State Retirement System Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Arizona State Retirement System increased its Alphabet stake by 1.3% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 1.62 million shares valued at approximately $577.3 million. Alphabet represents 2.9% of the pension fund’s portfolio and is its fifth-largest position.
• Institutional investors own about 40% of Alphabet’s stock, while insiders have sold roughly $12.0 million worth of shares over the past 90 days. Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $422.16.
• Alphabet reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, while growth opportunities include AI-chip sales, cloud demand and Waymo’s expansion. Key risks include increased AI infrastructure spending, higher interest rates and ongoing antitrust restrictions affecting its advertising business.

Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,615,493 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,976 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.9% of Arizona State Retirement System's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Alphabet were worth $577,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 28,950.0% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 9,259,940 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Alphabet by 90.9% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,040,373 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,900,078,000 after purchasing an additional 8,112,680 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 127.9% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,677,886 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,655,178,000 after purchasing an additional 6,554,842 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 45.8% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,737,125 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,299,721,000 after purchasing an additional 4,313,745 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 31,745,979 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,128,850,000 after purchasing an additional 3,574,810 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $379.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Pivotal Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 price objective (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Freedom Capital upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $395.00 target price (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $465.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $422.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 450,875 shares of company stock worth $11,984,482 in the last 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI chip sales add a new revenue stream: Alphabet began recognizing revenue from sales of its internally developed AI chip systems in the second quarter. Investors may view the business as both a potential growth driver and a way to monetize Google’s technology infrastructure. 2 Stocks to Buy as Google Starts Selling Its AI Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst raises price target: Tigress Financial Partners increased its price target for GOOGL to $485, reflecting confidence in Alphabet’s Search, Cloud, YouTube, Gemini and custom-chip opportunities. Alphabet Price Target Raised to $485
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expands internationally: Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit plans to launch an all-electric robotaxi service in Singapore by 2028, strengthening the long-term investment case for Alphabet’s “Other Bets” portfolio. Waymo to Bring Autonomous Ride-Hailing to Singapore
• Positive Sentiment: Options activity signals bullish positioning: Investors purchased roughly 520,000 Alphabet call options, above typical volume, indicating increased speculative interest in further upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: Ad-tech ruling avoids a breakup but imposes restrictions: A federal judge ordered Google to share more auction data with publishers and appoint an antitrust monitor, but rejected a forced breakup. Avoiding structural separation limits the immediate risk to Alphabet’s advertising business, while the behavioral remedies could pressure operations and margins. Tech Watchdogs Criticize Google Adtech Ruling
• Negative Sentiment: Higher rates and AI spending remain risks: The Federal Reserve’s rate increase and Alphabet’s heavy investment in AI infrastructure could keep pressure on free cash flow and valuation, even as Cloud backlog and AI demand remain strong.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $349.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $345.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $345.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $235.84 and a 1 year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.42%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology and holding company founded in 2015 through a restructuring of Google. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and operates globally, serving consumers, businesses, advertisers and developers across numerous countries and regions.

Alphabet's largest business is Google Services, which includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and hardware products such as Pixel devices. These products support activities including internet search, digital content distribution, mobile computing, online communications and advertising.

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