Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Has $2.36 Billion Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich reduced its Alphabet stake by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, but Alphabet remains its largest holding at about $2.36 billion.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $5.11 versus $2.64 expected and revenue of $109.9 billion, while analysts still see continued upside with a consensus Moderate Buy rating.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21, even as shares were down about 1% and insider selling and regulatory/AI spending concerns remained in focus.

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,543,121 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 753,869 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 6.5% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned approximately 0.06% of Alphabet worth $2,361,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fourier Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,431,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 12,937 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,446,000 after acquiring an additional 3,546 shares during the period. Moneywise Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $232,000. Western Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 92,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,809,000 after acquiring an additional 2,851 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 327,311 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $102,448,000 after acquiring an additional 57,932 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $376.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $4.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.00 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $347.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $325.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Moffett Nathanson boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. New Street Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.33.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 225,516 shares of company stock valued at $27,142,399. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s $10 billion commitment gives Alphabet a high-profile endorsement and suggests long-term confidence in the company’s AI and cloud strategy. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion for AI goals, Berkshire to invest $10 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s ownership stakes in major private AI companies like SpaceX and Anthropic could provide hidden upside if those firms eventually go public. Alphabet Stock Offers Exposure To SpaceX, Anthropic Before IPOs: What That Means For Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of Alphabet’s expanding AI coding, hardware, and consumer-device strategy underscores the company’s push to compete more aggressively, but it does not appear to be the immediate stock-moving catalyst today. Microsoft and Google are late to AI coding, but 'absolutely critical' they compete for growth
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s proposed $80 billion capital raise is raising dilution concerns and signaling much heavier near-term AI capex, which is pressuring the shares. Exclusive: EU cloud rules to curb Amazon, Google access to strategic tenders, draft document shows
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that EU cloud rules could restrict Google’s access to strategic government tenders add another regulatory overhang for the company’s cloud business. Alphabet to raise $80 billion in equity capital for AI spending

Alphabet Profile

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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