Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Purchases 1,818 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings increased its Alphabet stake by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 1,818 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 17,915 shares worth about $5.6 million.
• Alphabet continues to attract institutional and analyst support, with several firms raising price targets after its earnings beat and the stock now carrying a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target of $407.86.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, posting $5.11 EPS versus $2.64 expected and $109.9 billion in revenue, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,915 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $416,217,000. Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,241 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 50,064 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,171,000 after purchasing an additional 8,746 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,666,577 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $405,131,000 after purchasing an additional 60,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% during the third quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 72,608 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,652,000 after buying an additional 3,740 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet unveiled upcoming AI-powered bidding and budget-pacing tools for Google Ads, which could make Search and Shopping advertising more efficient and attractive for advertisers. Google AI Automates Ad Bidding and Budget Pacing
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts raised price targets on Alphabet, including DBS Bank to $460 and other firms lifting estimates after the company’s earnings beat, reinforcing the view that results remain stronger than expected. DBS Bank Adjusts Price Target on Alphabet to 460
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s partnership with OTB Group on a generative-AI virtual try-on experience adds to the narrative that Alphabet can monetize AI across enterprise and retail use cases. Google Cloud Partners With OTB Group
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted strong investor appetite for AI leaders such as Google, and recent coverage continues to frame Alphabet as one of the main beneficiaries of the AI spending cycle. Google, Broadcom Drive Delirious Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reports on Google’s AI “agent” efforts and AI search features suggest Alphabet is expanding its product lead in next-generation search and automation tools. Meta, Google enter AI agent race
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also getting more time to address EU regulators’ concerns in an ongoing antitrust investigation, which removes some immediate pressure but does not eliminate the legal overhang. Google Gets More Time in EU Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Google faces a new UK lawsuit over online display ads, adding another antitrust/legal risk that could weigh on sentiment if regulatory scrutiny intensifies. Google Faces New UK Lawsuit Over Online Display Ads

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,908,391. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $400.69 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $318.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $311.72. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $152.20 and a fifty-two week high of $402.00. The company has a market capitalization of $4.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Moffett Nathanson upped their target price on Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp set a $425.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $407.86.

Alphabet 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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