WMS Group LLC Buys Shares of 8,078 Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• WMS Group LLC initiated a new position in Alphabet, buying 8,078 shares worth about $2.53 million in the fourth quarter. Alphabet now makes up 3.2% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Institutional interest in Alphabet remains strong, with major investors such as Norges Bank, Berkshire Hathaway, Vanguard and others adding to or holding large stakes. About 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutions and hedge funds.
• Wall Street remains constructive on the stock, with analysts giving Alphabet a Moderate Buy consensus and a price target of $413.13. The company also recently beat earnings estimates and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

WMS Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,078 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,528,000. Alphabet comprises 3.2% of WMS Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $30,534,239,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,338,397,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 855.3% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,546,413,000 after buying an additional 13,004,828 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after buying an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after buying an additional 11,605,785 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is being viewed as a major AI winner thanks to ongoing investment in AI infrastructure and data centers, which could support future cloud and AI revenue growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Berkshire Hathaway nearly tripled its Alphabet position may be seen as a strong vote of confidence from a major long-term investor. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage emphasizing Alphabet’s strong earnings and expanding Google Cloud backlog supports the case for continued fundamental improvement. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s stock is drawing increased investor attention and analyst commentary, but these are mostly sentiment-driven mentions rather than new company-specific catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Noam Shazeer, a top Google DeepMind/Gemini AI leader, is leaving for OpenAI, underscoring the competitive AI talent war. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: John Jumper is also departing Google DeepMind for Anthropic, adding to concerns that Alphabet may be losing key AI researchers. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo’s recall of nearly 3,900 robotaxis after construction-zone driving errors raises safety and regulatory concerns for Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle business. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The UK ordering Google to improve search-ranking transparency highlights continued regulatory scrutiny over its core search business. Article Title

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $368.48 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $367.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $332.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.00 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The company has a market cap of $4.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.23. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,132,701. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 160,516 shares of company stock valued at $7,344,604 over the last 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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