Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Buys 22,486 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Swiss Life Asset Management increased its Alphabet stake by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 22,486 additional shares. The fund now owns 2,157,918 shares valued at about $675.4 million, making Alphabet its fourth-largest holding.
• Wall Street sentiment remains bullish on Alphabet, with several firms raising price targets and issuing or reiterating Buy ratings. The stock’s consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average target price of $412.94.
• Alphabet’s recent earnings topped expectations, and the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share. However, insiders have sold shares in recent months, and the stock has been volatile despite trading near its 52-week high.

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,157,918 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 22,486 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 3.4% of Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $675,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Symmetry Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Members Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,489,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several research reports. Argus increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $412.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,187,638.65. This represents a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $380.34 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $345.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $324.91. The stock has a market cap of $4.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud reported standout Q1’26 results, with revenue up 63% to $20 billion, a 32.9% margin, and a backlog that reached $462 billion, suggesting strong demand and improving profitability. GOOGL Rides on Surging Google Cloud Demand: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet and Blackstone announced a partnership to build 500MW of U.S. data center capacity by 2027, underscoring Alphabet’s push to monetize TPU-powered AI compute as a service. Google and Blackstone partner on TPU-powered data centre capacity
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s buy rating was reaffirmed by Barclays, adding to the bullish analyst tone around the stock. Alphabet Class A (GOOGL) Gets a Buy from Cantor Fitzgerald
• Positive Sentiment: Reuters reported that EQT partnered with Google Cloud to accelerate AI adoption across more than 300 portfolio companies, reinforcing Alphabet’s enterprise AI momentum. Private equity firm EQT partners with Google Cloud for AI rollout
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo continued expanding its robotaxi fleet with lower-cost vehicles and new rider access, which supports Alphabet’s optionality in autonomous driving but is not an immediate earnings driver. Waymo opens Ojai robotaxis to select riders as company aims to lower cost of fleet expansion
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet is facing fresh reputational and legal pressure after U.S. prosecutors charged a Google engineer in a Polymarket insider-trading case, and an Indian court ruling raised trademark-related ad risk. Indian court ruling on Google keyword ads could reshape online advertising
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also suggested Alphabet could face pressure as AI rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic raise larger funding war chests, keeping competition concerns in focus. Anthropic Leapfrogs OpenAI In Valuation. But Here's One Thing To Know.

Alphabet Company 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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