Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Invests $3.04 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 9,700 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,044,000. Alphabet makes up about 1.3% of Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its holdings in Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HSBC announced a multi-year partnership with Alphabet’s Google Cloud to expand its AI capabilities, a fresh validation of Google Cloud’s enterprise momentum and a potentially meaningful revenue tailwind. HSBC partners with Google Cloud to expand AI usage
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet rolled out Android 17 and expanded Gemini features across Pixel devices and Wear OS, highlighting continued product innovation and deeper integration of AI into its consumer ecosystem. Android 17 launches with new multitasking tools as Google expands Gemini features
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet confirmed a $1.5 billion Alabama data center expansion, including community investment and infrastructure spending, signaling continued AI and cloud capacity buildout to support future demand. Google’s Samsung Talks Highlight TSMC Capacity Crunch
• Positive Sentiment: Google broadened Fitbit Air’s appeal by making it HSA and FSA eligible, which could improve adoption in digital health and wearables. Google Broadens Fitbit Air Appeal With HSA, FSA Eligibility
• Neutral Sentiment: Google also received positive media commentary around its AI strategy and enterprise adoption, but these were largely opinion pieces rather than new fundamental developments. Why GOOGL Stock May Have More Room to Run Even After a 100% Rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI and quantum research efforts continued to draw attention, but the impact on near-term earnings is unclear. Google’s 20x Quantum Leap Threatens Ethereum’s Code as ETH Price Drops
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage warned that the AI boom may be getting too speculative, with Howard Marks cautioning that investors may be overestimating what they own in AI stocks. Howard Marks: Investing in AI Stocks Is ‘Closer to Speculating’ Than Analysis

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,132,701. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 159,466 shares of company stock valued at $6,957,543 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $371.10 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.33 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $4.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s fifty day moving average is $360.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $330.18.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.78.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.