AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• AustralianSuper Pty Ltd sharply reduced its Alphabet stake by 83.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 405,347 shares and leaving it with 79,861 shares worth about $25.1 million.
• Alphabet’s recent business momentum remains strong: the company posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings, with EPS of $5.11 on revenue of $109.9 billion, and revenue rose 21.8% year over year.
• Investor sentiment is still mixed despite the strong results, as analysts maintain a “Buy” consensus while antitrust appeal risk and recent insider selling keep some overhang on the stock.

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 83.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,861 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 405,347 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 91,638 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,756,000 after buying an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Maxele Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $394,000. Williams & Novak LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Williams & Novak LLC now owns 3,152 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $989,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Triton Wealth Management PLLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Triton Wealth Management PLLC now owns 5,889 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,011,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. Finally, Trevian Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Trevian Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,451 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,593,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary says Alphabet was one of the biggest winners among the Mag 7 this earnings season, helped by accelerating Google Cloud sales and broader AI-driven strength. Alphabet and NVIDIA: The Biggest Mag 7 Winners This Earnings Season
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted Alphabet’s new AI ad formats and shopping tools as potential catalysts for stronger search monetization, higher conversion rates, and increased ad spending. Alphabet's new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet also announced a large $15 billion data center and AI infrastructure investment in Missouri, reinforcing investor confidence in its cloud and AI buildout. Google Deepens Missouri Roots with New Data Center, Energy, and Community Investments
• Neutral Sentiment: Google unveiled new AI search and agent features at I/O, which could improve engagement over time, but the rollout also raised concerns about complexity and possible disruption to the traditional search experience. You can no longer Google the word ‘disregard’
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo temporarily paused some robotaxi and freeway services after safety issues in flooded roads and construction zones; while this is not core to Alphabet’s profits, it adds execution risk and negative headlines. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet has appealed the U.S. search-monopoly ruling, keeping antitrust overhang and potential remedies in focus for investors. Google appeals US court ruling on search monopoly

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Freedom Capital downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Truist Financial set a $385.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $372.65.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $379.38 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $335.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $321.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.33 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company's revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.81 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. 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. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc NASDAQ: GOOG is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as "Other Bets." Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company's history.

Alphabet's core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company's ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

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