Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases 3,399 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 437,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,399 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.7% of Alberta Investment Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $136,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $416,217,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $277,696,000 after buying an additional 93,293 shares during the period. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $28,902,000. Private Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,736,000 after buying an additional 2,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $4,338,397,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s core AI and cloud story got another boost after reports highlighted strong earnings momentum and a rapidly expanding Google Cloud backlog, reinforcing the view that business demand remains healthy. Alphabet Just Beat Earnings by 94% and Doubled Its Cloud Backlog to $460 Billion
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it nearly tripled its Alphabet stake, a notable vote of confidence from a major value investor that may support sentiment. Warren Buffett Just Tripled Down on the Stock Bill Ackman Is Selling
• Positive Sentiment: HSBC announced a multi-year partnership with Google Cloud to expand AI usage, adding another large enterprise customer to Alphabet’s cloud growth narrative. HSBC partners with Google Cloud to expand AI usage
• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled new AI-related plans, including an “AI Control Roadmap” to address rogue AI agents, underscoring continued investment and leadership in AI infrastructure and safety. Google Devises Battle Plan to Combat Rogue AI Agents
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s AI talent war remains a focus after Noam Shazeer, a co-lead on Gemini, reportedly left for OpenAI, which may raise questions about retention but does not change the core business overnight. Google’s Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer to join OpenAI
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo issued a recall of about 3,900 robotaxis after software issues caused vehicles to enter highway construction zones, adding regulatory and execution risk to Alphabet’s self-driving unit. Waymo to recall over 3,800 robotaxis over risk of entering closed construction zones
• Negative Sentiment: A director sold a meaningful block of shares, which can modestly weigh on sentiment even though insider sales are not always a bearish signal. SEC filing for John L. Hennessy sale

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 160,516 shares of company stock worth $7,344,604. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $368.48 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.00 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $366.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $331.69. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

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.