Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by USS Investment Management Ltd

USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 928,627 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,853 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of USS Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $266,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,009 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,880,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,174,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $337,814,000 after acquiring an additional 54,947 shares during the last quarter. Rexford Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 32.9% in the first quarter. Rexford Capital Inc. now owns 816 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Care LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $552,000. Finally, Severin Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% during the first quarter. Severin Investments LLC now owns 6,259 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,800,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $445.00 price objective (up from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,656.24. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.4%

GOOGL opened at $361.92 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.77 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $372.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $335.93. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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 yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 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

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.