World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 274,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,107 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.4% of World Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $86,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $21,944,208,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,338,397,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 17,667.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,686,640,000 after buying an additional 15,159,273 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its stake in Alphabet by 855.3% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 13,004,828 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $165,567,398,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, February 16th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.06.
Insider Activity
In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total value of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,955,564. The trade was a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock valued at $118,134,117. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Alphabet News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised expectations — a published price target bump to $397 signals stronger bullish conviction from at least one shop, which can help support the stock. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $397.00
- Positive Sentiment: Needham reiterated a Buy rating on GOOGL, reinforcing continued analyst support for the company’s growth and AI positioning. Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC
- Positive Sentiment: TurboQuant and related compression tech may materially reduce AI memory and cloud costs — a potential structural margin advantage for Google Cloud and AI services. This is being highlighted as a reason to buy by some analysts and outlets. Alphabet Just Introduced Its Newest AI Advantage, and It’s Another Reason to Buy the Stock
- Positive Sentiment: Waymo reached scale (~500k paid robotaxi rides/week across 10 U.S. cities), showing tangible monetization potential in autonomous mobility over time. Alphabet Weighs Privacy Risks Against AI Efficiency And Waymo Scale
- Neutral Sentiment: Public stance by senior exec Jeff Dean on political issues keeps Google in the spotlight but is unlikely to move fundamentals; it is primarily a reputational/PR factor. Silicon Valley Has Stopped Talking Politics—Except for This Google Executive
- Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: a landmark social‑media addiction verdict found Google/YouTube liable in a case that could encourage follow-on litigation or regulatory scrutiny — a potential long‑term liability overhang. Meta and Google lost a major social media addiction lawsuit. Their troubles are far from over.
- Negative Sentiment: Sentiment hit from institutional moves — Ark Invest trimmed GOOGL among other AI names, which can pressure near‑term demand and sentiment for the stock. Cathie Wood Going Cold On Big Tech? Ark Sells Nvidia, AMD, Meta And Google Stock — AI Darlings Get The Dump
- Negative Sentiment: Competitive risk: Apple has poached a senior Google shopping/AI marketing exec, highlighting talent flow to rivals that could weaken product or go‑to‑market execution over time. Apple Recruits Google Shopping Exec to Lead AI Marketing
Alphabet Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $274.34 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $313.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $295.40. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $349.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.
Alphabet 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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