JW Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 27,539 Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• JW Asset Management LLC opened a new position in Alphabet, buying 27,539 shares valued at about $8.64 million. The stake makes Alphabet its 5th-largest holding and 2.8% of its portfolio.
• Institutional interest in Alphabet remains strong, with major funds like Vanguard and JPMorgan increasing their holdings. Overall, about 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Alphabet continues to draw bullish analyst sentiment after beating quarterly earnings estimates and raising its dividend. The stock has an average analyst rating of “Buy” with a consensus price target of $372.65.

JW Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 27,539 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,642,000. Alphabet comprises 2.8% of JW Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Alphabet by 8.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after buying an additional 7,904,434 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Alphabet by 5.8% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,032,291 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,749,864,000 after buying an additional 2,209,203 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,583,332 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,935,671,000 after buying an additional 223,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.9% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,625,464 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,971,769,000 after buying an additional 539,679 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $372.65.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud delivered a standout Q1 result, with revenue up 63% to $20 billion, margin reaching 32.9%, and backlog rising to $462 billion. That reinforces Alphabet’s growing second engine beyond search and supports the bull case for further upside. GOOGL Rides on Surging Google Cloud Demand: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud is also getting validation from new enterprise partnerships, including EQT’s rollout to help more than 300 portfolio companies adopt AI using Google Cloud tools. Private equity firm EQT partners with Google Cloud for AI rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo news continues to suggest Alphabet’s autonomous-driving business may be undervalued, with the new Ojai robotaxi designed to lower fleet costs and expand capacity. That strengthens the long-term optionality in Alphabet’s non-advertising businesses. Waymo opens Ojai robotaxis to select riders as company aims to lower cost of fleet
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary from Jim Cramer was supportive, calling Alphabet a “crucial position” and saying “there’s a lot to like here,” which can help reinforce bullish sentiment among retail investors. Jim Cramer on Alphabet: “There’s a Lot to Like Here”
• Neutral Sentiment: Shares were also mentioned in analyst-style and market commentary framing Alphabet as a core AI and cloud beneficiary, but these pieces were largely reiterations rather than new catalysts.
• Negative Sentiment: An Indian court ruling on keyword ads could increase trademark and legal risk for Google’s search advertising business, raising concerns about a core profit driver. Indian court ruling on Google keyword ads could reshape online advertising
• Negative Sentiment: News that a Google engineer was charged in a $1.2 million Polymarket insider-trading case may create a modest reputational overhang, even though it is not a direct business or financial issue for Alphabet. US charges Google engineer with insider trading on Polymarket

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $376.43 on Monday. 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 capitalization of $4.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.33 and a 12 month high of $404.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $343.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $324.54.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 226,369 shares of company stock valued at $27,388,127 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Alphabet

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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