Artemis Investment Management LLP Raises Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its Alphabet stake by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 60,662 additional shares to bring its total to 830,123 shares worth about $259.8 million.
• Alphabet posted a strong quarterly earnings beat, reporting $5.11 EPS versus $2.64 expected on revenue of $109.9 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22 from $0.21.
• The company’s AI momentum remains a major focus, with Google I/O highlighting new AI products and a $5 billion joint venture with Blackstone to build AI cloud infrastructure, even as Alphabet faces some regulatory and search-model concerns.

Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 830,123 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 60,662 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.1% of Artemis Investment Management LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Artemis Investment Management LLP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $259,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co raised its stake in Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th 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 during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Institutional investors 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 Google I/O showcase highlighted a broad AI push across Search, Gemini, Workspace, shopping, coding, and video tools, reinforcing expectations that Google can monetize AI rather than just defend against competitors. Google debuts new AI models, personal AI agents in effort to keep pace with OpenAI and Anthropic
• Positive Sentiment: Google and Blackstone announced a $5 billion joint venture to build AI cloud infrastructure powered by Google’s TPU chips, which could expand demand for Alphabet’s custom silicon and strengthen its enterprise AI ecosystem. Google, Blackstone to create new AI cloud company, WSJ reports
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analysts turned more constructive after I/O, with firms including BofA, KeyCorp, Citizens JMP, Needham, and others reiterating or raising targets, signaling confidence that Alphabet’s AI strategy is gaining traction. Alphabet analyst forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet said Gemini now has 900 million monthly users and AI Overviews has 2.5 billion monthly users, showing that its AI products are already operating at significant scale. Google kicks off I/O conference with AI upgrades for coders, consumers
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet also introduced new AI-powered search and shopping features, including agentic tools and a universal cart, which could open additional monetization opportunities. Google's new Universal Cart wants to follow you across the entire internet
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider and shareholder sales were disclosed, including a director sale and a larger shareholder sale, but these appear to be routine filings rather than a clear signal of changing fundamentals. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Ofcom said YouTube and TikTok have not done enough to protect British children from harmful content, adding another layer of regulatory scrutiny for Alphabet’s YouTube business. TikTok, YouTube lag on UK child safety as rivals act, regulator says
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors worry that Google’s AI-heavy search redesign could pressure its core ad model by reducing reliance on the traditional “ten blue links” format. Google Search as you know it is over

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,621 shares in the company, valued at $6,908,391. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was 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 owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061 over the last 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $388.91 on Thursday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $334.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $320.07. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The company has a market cap of $4.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share 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 $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 6.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Freedom Capital downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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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