AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,100,737 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 160,019 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 4.5% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $970,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,338,397,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 15.7% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,333,076,000 after purchasing an additional 6,874,381 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Cayman LP boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 23,402.1% in the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 6,118,547 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,487,419,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092,513 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.
Alphabet Stock Down 3.9%
Alphabet stock opened at $361.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.00 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $347.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $325.75. 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 Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors 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%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.41%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 29th. President Capital lifted their price target on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Dbs Bank boosted their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.04.
Read Our Latest Report on GOOGL
Key Alphabet News
Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s $10 billion investment signals strong outside confidence in Alphabet’s AI and cloud strategy. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion for AI goals, Berkshire to invest $10 billion
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to argue that Alphabet remains a high-margin cash generator with attractive long-term earnings power. Google: AI Skeptics Proven Wrong as Business Booms
- Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of Alphabet’s expanding AI coding, hardware, and device strategy highlights broader growth opportunities, but it is not the main driver of today’s move. Microsoft and Google are late to AI coding, but ‘absolutely critical’ they compete for growth
- Negative Sentiment: The proposed $80 billion stock sale raises dilution concerns and underscores how expensive Alphabet’s AI race has become. Exclusive: EU cloud rules to curb Amazon, Google access to strategic tenders, draft document shows
- Negative Sentiment: Reports that EU cloud rules could restrict Google’s access to strategic government tenders add a regulatory overhang for the cloud business. Alphabet to raise $80 billion in equity capital for AI spending
Insider Activity
In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,132,701. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.61% 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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