Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Holdings Boosted by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,887,621 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 205,369 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 2.0% of Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $590,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lifted its position in Alphabet by 17.6% during the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 11.2% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $85,557,000 after purchasing an additional 48,805 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank increased its holdings in Alphabet by 6.9% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. CICC Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $407.86.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet unveiled upcoming AI-powered bidding and budget-pacing tools for Google Ads, which could make Search and Shopping advertising more efficient and attractive for advertisers. Google AI Automates Ad Bidding and Budget Pacing
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts raised price targets on Alphabet, including DBS Bank to $460 and other firms lifting estimates after the company’s earnings beat, reinforcing the view that results remain stronger than expected. DBS Bank Adjusts Price Target on Alphabet to 460
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s partnership with OTB Group on a generative-AI virtual try-on experience adds to the narrative that Alphabet can monetize AI across enterprise and retail use cases. Google Cloud Partners With OTB Group
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted strong investor appetite for AI leaders such as Google, and recent coverage continues to frame Alphabet as one of the main beneficiaries of the AI spending cycle. Google, Broadcom Drive Delirious Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reports on Google’s AI “agent” efforts and AI search features suggest Alphabet is expanding its product lead in next-generation search and automation tools. Meta, Google enter AI agent race
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also getting more time to address EU regulators’ concerns in an ongoing antitrust investigation, which removes some immediate pressure but does not eliminate the legal overhang. Google Gets More Time in EU Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Google faces a new UK lawsuit over online display ads, adding another antitrust/legal risk that could weigh on sentiment if regulatory scrutiny intensifies. Google Faces New UK Lawsuit Over Online Display Ads

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total transaction of $37,842.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,908,391. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock worth $47,951,856. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $400.69 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $152.20 and a one year high of $402.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $318.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $311.72. 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 data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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