IFM Investors Pty Ltd Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,174,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 54,947 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.8% of IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $337,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $390.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 29th. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.54.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $361.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company’s 50-day moving average is $372.28 and its 200-day moving average is $335.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $172.77 and a 1 year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Waymo plans to expand driverless rides to four more major cities this year, with a phased rollout that could broaden Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle opportunity and reinforce its leadership in robotaxis. Waymo Plans to Expand Driverless Cars to 4 More Major Cities This Year
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to be highlighted as a beneficiary of massive AI infrastructure spending, with analysts pointing to strong demand for cloud expansion, data centers, and AI hardware. 3 Top-Ranked Stocks Riding on Massive AI Infrastructure Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was cited as an indirect way to gain exposure to Anthropic ahead of a possible IPO, since the company already holds a major private stake in the AI startup. Want Anthropic Exposure Before the IPO? These 2 AI Giants Are Already There (GOOGL)
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly added a $10 billion private placement investment in Alphabet, a sign of institutional confidence that could support sentiment in the stock. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Successor, Greg Abel, Just Bought More of This Magnificent Tech Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Cognizant deepened its Google Cloud partnership to accelerate enterprise AI adoption, which underscores Alphabet’s cloud relevance but is not a direct financial catalyst by itself. Cognizant Strengthens AI Portfolio Through Google Cloud Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s upcoming Pixel launch event on August 12 keeps hardware in view, but this is more of a product-calendar reminder than an immediate stock-moving catalyst. Google’s Pixel event is set for August 12
• Negative Sentiment: Google updated the Chrome Web Store to ban prediction market transactions, a policy move that may be seen as restrictive and could attract backlash from affected users and developers. Google Bans Prediction Market Transactions Amid Backlash
• Negative Sentiment: One article noted Alphabet shares were already slipping versus the broader market, adding to the intraday weakness as traders weigh valuation and AI competition concerns. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Sees a More Significant Dip Than Broader Market: Some Facts to Know

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at $6,615,656.24. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.