Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden increased its Alphabet stake by 62.1% in the first quarter, adding 631,940 shares to reach 1,648,994 shares worth about $474.2 million. Alphabet is now the fund’s 6th largest holding and makes up roughly 2.6% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $5.11 versus the $2.64 consensus and revenue of $109.9 billion topping forecasts. The company also reported strong profitability, with a 38.99% return on equity and a 37.92% net margin.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21, though the yield remains modest at 0.2%. At the same time, analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a price target of $413.92.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 62.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,648,994 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 631,940 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.6% of Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Alphabet were worth $474,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Symmetry Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% during the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $730,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Members Trust Co boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,489,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight 2811 Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $1.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $357.18. 18,122,822 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,870,564. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $372.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $336.44. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $176.48 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its price target on Alphabet to $445 from $425 and kept an overweight rating, reinforcing the view that the stock still has meaningful upside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple upbeat articles highlighted Alphabet as a leading AI and cloud beneficiary, with commentary pointing to strong distribution through Search, Android, YouTube, Google Cloud, and chips as reasons it could monetize AI better than peers.
• Positive Sentiment: New coverage argued Alphabet looks undervalued after a big run over the past year, while other pieces said the company remains one of the most attractive megacap tech names on a risk/reward basis.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and other market commentators continued to include GOOGL among cloud and internet stocks positioned to benefit from AI-driven data center spending and digital demand growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Business and tech commentary also pointed to product and platform strengths, including Google Search setting records during the World Cup and Waymo planning more driverless-car expansion, which support the long-term growth narrative.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet said it will begin disclosing which ads are generated with AI, a transparency move that may help trust and compliance but is unlikely to materially change near-term earnings.
• Neutral Sentiment: Britain moved to regulate Google as a critical cloud supplier to protect financial stability; the change adds oversight, but it also underscores the importance of Google Cloud rather than signaling a fundamental business setback.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reported that Google is appealing an Indian ads-related trademark ruling, a legal issue that could create some noise but does not yet appear to be a major stock-moving event.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent short-interest data was effectively flat at zero shares reported, offering little actionable signal for traders.
• Negative Sentiment: One Reuters-linked report said Google and OpenAI provided AI services to Singapore-based subsidiaries of Chinese groups on the Pentagon blacklist, which could raise regulatory scrutiny and geopolitical concerns.
• Negative Sentiment: Technical commentary noted Alphabet is testing a key resistance zone after a recovery, suggesting the stock may need a fresh catalyst to extend its move higher.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Arete Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $413.92.

About Alphabet

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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