Baillie Gifford & Co. Buys 843,988 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in Alphabet by 29%, buying 843,988 shares in Q4 to hold 3,750,936 shares valued at about $1.177 billion, making GOOG its 23rd-largest position (~1.0% of the firm's holdings).
• Alphabet beat quarterly expectations with EPS $2.82 vs. $2.59 and revenue of $113.83 billion (up 18% YoY); analysts' consensus rating is a "Buy" with an average target near $346.03.
• Insider selling has been notable recently: CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares and Director John Hennessy sold 1,050, with insiders offloading about 2,069,794 shares (~$104.85M) over the last quarter while retaining 12.99% ownership.

Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 29.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,750,936 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 843,988 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.0% of Baillie Gifford & Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Baillie Gifford & Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,177,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. E&G Advisors LP grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 6,315 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Highland Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Highland Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,124 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. RFG Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. RFG Holdings Inc. now owns 9,894 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,105,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. James J. Burns & Company LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 15,142 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares during the period. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $335.40 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.40 and a 12-month high of $350.15. The stock has a market cap of $4.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $306.20 and a 200-day moving average of $302.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.15 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,187,638.65. The trade was a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,069,794 shares of company stock valued at $104,854,147. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street bullishness ahead of Google Cloud Next and earnings: analysts have named Alphabet a top pick and one analyst sees meaningful upside tied to Google Cloud and AI momentum, supporting continued investor interest. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: New AI hardware roadmap: multiple reports and Bloomberg coverage indicate Google will announce a new generation of inference-focused TPUs (custom AI chips), which could improve margins and cloud differentiation if adoption scales. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Google is in design talks with Marvell for AI chips have surfaced; the news could be strategic (diversifying suppliers) but remains unconfirmed and analysts have disputed the deal’s immediacy, making market impact uncertain. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Tech/ETF pressure: broader tech weakness and pullbacks in major semiconductor and FAAMG names are contributing to Alphabet’s slide as ETFs like QQQ and VTI show tech-heavy drawdowns that weigh on GOOG. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large reported 13F moves raise selling noise: a Quiver Quant filing shows Cardano Risk Management dramatically reduced its reported GOOG/GOOGL positions (~90% cuts), which could create short-term selling pressure (filing/parse caveats apply). Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director John L. Hennessy disclosed a sale of 1,050 shares on April 15, a small insider sale that adds to the day’s negative signals for some investors. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. Phillip Securities downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $346.03.

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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