QRG Capital Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management boosted its Alphabet stake by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, adding 46,063 shares to reach 679,545 shares valued at about $213.2 million.
• Alphabet’s latest earnings beat expectations, with $5.11 EPS and $109.9 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 21.8% year over year.
• Wall Street remains bullish on GOOG, with multiple Buy/Strong Buy ratings and higher price targets, and Alphabet also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 679,545 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 46,063 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 2.4% of QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $213,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its position in Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1,438.5% in the fourth quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 200 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI and cloud businesses are being cited as key growth drivers, with reports emphasizing strong revenue growth, improving cloud margins, and a large backlog supporting future expansion.
• Positive Sentiment: New product and platform launches, including Googlebook laptops and broader Gemini AI integrations, are reinforcing the view that Alphabet can monetize AI across both software and hardware.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and investor commentary remains upbeat, with multiple bullish ratings, higher price targets, and articles arguing Alphabet still has room to run after its post-earnings surge. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Anthropic plans to spend heavily on Google infrastructure add to the narrative that Alphabet is becoming a central provider of AI compute capacity.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $397.17 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $163.33 and a one year high of $399.93. The company has a 50-day moving average of $325.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.44. The stock has a market cap of $4.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Phillip Securities cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Alphabet from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $470.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $362.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total value of $33,934.88. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,418 shares in the company, valued at $5,580,469.82. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 157,953 shares of company stock worth $47,767,818. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Company 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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