Candriam S.C.A. Acquires 60,637 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,582,917 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,637 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.9% of Candriam S.C.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $742,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 buying an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,524,841,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008,374 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,625,595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $21,630,861,000 after purchasing an additional 3,218,852 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly developing a new AI server chip to make Gemini run more efficiently, which could improve performance and reduce infrastructure costs. Reuters: Google plans new chip to run Gemini models more efficiently
• Positive Sentiment: Shares were also lifted by reports that Alphabet’s AI chip initiative could strengthen its competitive position against Nvidia and support its broader AI rollout. Yahoo Finance: Alphabet stock gains on report of next-generation AI chip project
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators say Alphabet’s upcoming Q2 results could be supported by Search ad strength, Cloud growth, and rising subscriptions, with expectations for an earnings surprise still elevated. Zacks: Will Alphabet’s Q2 Earnings Reignite the Tech Rally?
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analysts remain generally constructive on Alphabet ahead of earnings, with some notes suggesting meaningful upside from current levels. Zacks: Wall Street Analysts Think Alphabet (GOOGL) Is a Good Investment: Is It?
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s upcoming earnings report is expected to be a major event for the stock, with traders bracing for a potentially large move depending on guidance and AI capex plans. Investopedia: Here’s How Much Google Parent Alphabet’s Stock Is Seen Moving After Earnings Wednesday
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Alphabet as one of this week’s most closely watched earnings names, but these were largely preview pieces rather than new fundamental developments. Proactive Investors: Week ahead: Wall Street gears up for volatility as Big Tech earnings kick into high gear
• Negative Sentiment: One New York Times report criticized Google’s AI search features as potentially harming the open web, which could add regulatory and reputational pressure over time. NYT: How Google’s A.I. Search Is Imperiling the Open Web
• Negative Sentiment: Two securities-fraud investigation notices may create some headline overhang, although they are routine plaintiff-lawyer announcements and not evidence of new wrongdoing. Globe Newswire: Securities Fraud Investigation Into Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Continues

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price objective (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $414.11.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $351.99 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $186.15 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $368.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $338.41. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

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.