Jackson Square Capital LLC Acquires 7,385 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Jackson Square Capital LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 10.3%, buying 7,385 shares to hold 78,749 shares worth about $24.65 million, making Alphabet its 5th-largest holding (4.9% of the portfolio).
• Several analysts boosted ratings and targets on GOOGL (e.g., Cantor Fitzgerald to $395, KeyCorp to $380), leaving a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $368.94.
• Insider activity shows significant selling: John Kent Walker and CEO Sundar Pichai sold sizable positions, and insiders disposed of roughly 2.07 million shares (~$104.85M) over the past 90 days, while insiders still own 11.55% of the stock.

Jackson Square Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,749 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,385 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 4.9% of Jackson Square Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Jackson Square Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Corsicana & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial set a $385.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, President Capital increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $323.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.94.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets signal bullish expectations around Google Cloud and AI monetization: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its target to $395 and KeyCorp lifted its target to $380, citing momentum into Cloud Next. Cantor Fitzgerald price target raise KeyCorp target lift
• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding its TPU/AI-inference push and getting growing demand from big AI customers (Anthropic, Meta). That strengthens cloud differentiation and potential high-margin hardware/service revenues. Google expands TPU push
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Google is in talks with Marvell to develop inference-focused AI chips point to verticalization of Google's AI stack (could reduce reliance on external suppliers and improve cloud differentiation). These reports lifted chip names and echo the TPU push. Reuters: Marvell-Google talks
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage and trade commentary highlight heavy investor attention and short-term volatility around GOOGL (Zacks pieces noting larger-than-market moves); useful for traders but not necessarily directional for fundamentals. Zacks: Why GOOGL dipped
• Neutral Sentiment: Initial Marvell gains were pared after analysts disputed the scope/timing of any Google deal, introducing uncertainty about the immediate impact and which vendors will benefit. Marvell gains pared
• Negative Sentiment: eMarketer projects Meta will overtake Google in digital ad revenue this year — a red flag for Google’s core ad growth narrative and a potential headwind for revenue expectations. eMarketer: Meta set to surpass Google
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern about rising AI-related spending (reports that Alphabet will materially increase AI investment) can pressure near-term margins even as it supports long-term growth—this likely contributed to today's pullback after a strong April rally. Fool on AI spending concerns

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $337.42 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $307.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $302.81. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $146.10 and a one year high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total transaction of $9,877,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,818,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $856,605,814.08. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,069,794 shares of company stock worth $104,854,147 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Company 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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