Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Has $54.62 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer cut its Alphabet stake by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,270 shares and ending with 174,304 shares valued at about $54.6 million.
• Several institutional investors and hedge funds also adjusted their Alphabet holdings, while insiders sold stock as well; CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares, and insider ownership was reported at 12.99%.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on Alphabet, with an average Buy rating and a $372.65 target price, supported by strong earnings, AI and cloud momentum, and a recent dividend increase to $0.22 per share.

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 174,304 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,270 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in Alphabet were worth $54,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ring Mountain Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,174,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC now owns 919 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avaii Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,955,564. This trade represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOG. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Phillip Securities cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $372.65.

Key Headlines Impacting 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

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $379.38 on Friday. 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $335.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $320.81. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.33 and a 1-year high of $404.47. The stock has a market cap of $4.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.81 EPS. The business's revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.41%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.