Swiss National Bank Purchases 889,600 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,281,400 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 889,600 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.4% of Swiss National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,096,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its position in Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 850.3% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,551,938,000 after buying an additional 15,830,754 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after buying an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates, driven by strong search, ads, and especially Google Cloud growth. S&P 500, Nasdaq close lower ahead of technology earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud growth accelerated sharply on AI demand, reinforcing the case that Alphabet’s AI investments are translating into revenue. Google quarterly cloud revenue growth beats expectations
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube ad revenue rose 13%, adding another sign that Alphabet’s core advertising business remains resilient. YouTube Ad Revenue Rises 13% In Q2 To Surpass $11 Billion
• Positive Sentiment: Google said Gemini has reached 950 million monthly active users, suggesting improving traction in consumer AI. Google’s Gemini app nips at ChatGPT’s heels as it nears 1 billion users

Alphabet Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $341.91 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $188.70 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $363.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $337.49. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $6.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. UBS Group set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $445.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp set a $445.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $383.44.

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.