Quilter Plc Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Quilter Plc raised its stake in Alphabet by 9% to 971,189 shares (worth about $303.98M), making GOOGL its fifth-largest holding at roughly 5.1% of the portfolio.
• Alphabet beat Q1 estimates, reporting EPS of $2.82 vs. $2.57 and revenue of $113.83B vs. $111.24B, and several analysts have since raised price targets, leaving a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a $367.62 target.
• Alphabet recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.21 (annualized $0.84, ~0.2% yield), while insiders sold about 2.07M shares (~$104.5M) over the last quarter.

Quilter Plc raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 971,189 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 79,917 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 5.1% of Quilter Plc's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Quilter Plc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $303,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in Alphabet by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 32,755 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,253,000 after buying an additional 2,907 shares in the last quarter. Planning Directions Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Planning Directions Inc. now owns 1,735 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. OLIO Financial Planning bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $325,000. Access Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Access Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $254,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3%

GOOGL stock opened at $336.02 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.10 and a twelve month high of $349.00. The company has a market cap of $4.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.12. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $306.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.68. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NiSource signed a long‑term power supply agreement with an Alphabet unit to support a large Indiana data center, reducing energy‑supply risk and supporting capacity expansion on which cloud/AI revenue depends. NiSource signs long-term power deal with Alphabet, expands Amazon agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Google is negotiating a deal to allow the Pentagon to deploy its Gemini models in classified settings — a potential high‑value government customer and proof point for Gemini’s enterprise/security positioning. Google, Pentagon discuss classified AI deal, the Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: Google expanded consumer AI features: users can now link personal photos to Gemini and Nano Banana for personalized image generation — an engagement and monetization positive for search/assistant and image services. Google will let users connect their photos to the Gemini chatbot and Nano Banana
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street momentum: Citi and Phillip Securities raised price targets (Citi to $405; Phillip to $395) and several bullish analyst notes were published ahead of Q1 results, which can support near‑term buying interest. Wall Street sets Google stock price target for the next twelve months Phillip Securities adjusts price target on Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary (Zacks) highlights Alphabet’s strong earnings‑surprise history and suggests conditions are favorable for another upside surprise in the next report — supportive for investor sentiment ahead of earnings. Will Alphabet (GOOG) Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report?
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry note: reports about Anthropic exploring custom chips point to broader AI infrastructure shifts that could reshape supplier dynamics (Broadcom, Nvidia) but have indirect implications for Alphabet’s cost/partner ecosystem. Why Anthropic's Custom Chip Plans Could Benefit Broadcom (GOOGL)
• Neutral Sentiment: Google reported blocking a record number of bad ads while suspending fewer advertisers, raising platform‑quality and moderation questions but not an immediate revenue threat. Google is now targeting bad ads over bad actors
• Negative Sentiment: The European Commission told Google it must give rival search engines access to wide ranges of search and chatbot data under DMA compliance proposals — a major regulatory overhang that could affect search advantages, ad targeting data and competitive moat. Google should allow third-party search engines access to data, EU says
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus reduced expectations for Alphabet’s stock price, adding a modest negative analyst view amid mixed signals; this may add some selling pressure for momentum traders. Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOGL Stock Price

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. China Renaissance lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $367.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,091.71. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,068,744 shares of company stock valued at $104,505,914 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

About Alphabet

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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