Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Invests $166.09 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Aware Super disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Alphabet, buying 579,009 shares worth about $166.1 million. The position makes Alphabet its 6th-largest holding and represents 2.5% of the portfolio.
• Alphabet’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $5.11 versus an estimated $2.68 and revenue of $109.9 billion, up 21.8% year over year. Analysts still see further upside, with a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $383.44.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21, while insiders sold some shares during the quarter. Despite the insider selling, institutional ownership remains high at 27.26%.

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 579,009 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $166,095,000. Alphabet accounts for 2.5% of Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,508 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,174,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the first quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HRC Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Phillip Securities cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $470.00 price target (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $416.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $383.44.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $346.12 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $366.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $336.81. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $184.73 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America and Wedbush remain bullish, with both highlighting strong cloud growth, AI monetization potential, and upside to the stock ahead of earnings. Alphabet could crush estimates on Cloud strength, Anthropic windfall: BofA
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors are still pointing to accelerating Google Search and Google Cloud growth, while retail interest and institutional ownership remain strong ahead of the July 22 report.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI and cloud businesses remain central to the bullish thesis, with multiple articles noting that the company could benefit from rising AI infrastructure spend and strong earnings expectations.

About Alphabet

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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