Jackson Square Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Jackson Square Capital LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 90.2% in Q4 to 20,405 shares (worth $6.403M), making GOOG about 1.3% of the firm's portfolio and its 23rd largest holding.
• Alphabet beat expectations with EPS of $2.82 vs. $2.59 and revenue of $113.83B (+18% YoY), and analysts have raised targets amid bullish catalysts like its SpaceX stake and commercial AI momentum.
• Insiders have been net sellers—CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares and insiders sold ~2.07M shares (~$104.5M) in the last three months—while Alphabet faces legal risks including a new antitrust suit and reported ~$218B arbitration exposure.

Jackson Square Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 90.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,405 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,675 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.3% of Jackson Square Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Jackson Square Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 9,509 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,984,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC now owns 3,934 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,235,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Compass Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,754,000. Finally, Center For Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $587,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and outlets highlight Alphabet’s large payoff potential from its early SpaceX stake, which investors view as a material latent asset that could boost GAAP value if SpaceX goes public. Alphabet (GOOGL) Could Score a $100B+ Payday from SpaceX IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage emphasizes the same theme — Google’s SpaceX stake could be worth more than most public companies, a narrative that supports a higher valuation multiple for GOOG. Google's stake in SpaceX could be worth more than most companies on the planet
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street momentum: analysts have raised targets and put Alphabet on catalyst watches ahead of events and Q1 earnings, fueling bullish positioning. Alphabet Stock (GOOGL) Opinions on Analyst Price Target Increases
• Positive Sentiment: Citi boosted its price target and kept a Buy rating ahead of Q1, reinforcing the buy-side narrative into earnings and product events. Wall Street sets Google stock price target for the next 12 months
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial AI traction: new partnerships and product launches (Cadence optimizing chip design on Google Cloud; Thoma Bravo deal to bring AI to a large software portfolio; Gemini app for Mac; Chrome “AI skills” rollout) strengthen revenue and cloud backlog outlook. Cadence and Google Collaborate to Scale AI-Driven Chip Design with ChipStack AI Super Agent on Google Cloud
• Neutral Sentiment: Some funds trimmed GOOG in recent 13F updates (various institutional sales), which may reflect portfolio rebalancing rather than conviction changes; keep an eye on large-scale flows. Fund Update: Douglas Lane & Associates, LLC Just Disclosed New Holdings
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risk: Alphabet faces a new antitrust suit from rival app store Aptoide and a separate report of mass arbitration claims tied to ad tech/search rulings — these are headline risks that could pressure sentiment or lead to fines/costs. Google sued by rival app store Aptoide over alleged monopoly
• Negative Sentiment: Large-scale arbitration exposure reported (~$218B) tied to ad tech/search rulings — while the figure is headline-grabbing, resolution outcomes and timing remain uncertain and could create volatility. Alphabet Faces $218 Billion Mass Arbitration Claims Over Ad Tech And Search Rulings
• Negative Sentiment: Competition risk: OpenAI’s move into digital ads is an emerging threat to Google’s core ad franchise and is being watched by investors. OpenAI Pushes Into Digital Ads, Setting Up New Competition with Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta (META)

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,068,744 shares of company stock worth $104,505,914. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $334.47 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.40 and a twelve month high of $350.15. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $305.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $300.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.94, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.15 EPS. The company's revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 $0.21 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $395.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $345.71.

Alphabet 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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