iA Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 20,923 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

iA Global Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 709,974 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 20,923 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.9% of iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $204,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,625,595,000 after buying an additional 2,666,676 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 3,218,852 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $393.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Mizuho raised their target price on Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $460.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.54.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $361.92 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $372.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $335.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $172.77 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

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.