Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases 20,100 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 190,914 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,100 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.4% of Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $59,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 76.2% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $330,886,000 after purchasing an additional 806,681 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the second quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $362.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,908,391. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled a broader AI push at its Android event, including Gemini-powered features, new “Googlebooks” laptops, and agentic AI tools, reinforcing the company’s leadership in AI and mobile ecosystems.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Google is discussing orbital data centers with SpaceX have sparked investor excitement about a potential long-term infrastructure advantage in AI and cloud computing. Report: Google and SpaceX in talks to put data centers into orbit
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to attract bullish analyst and investor attention after strong Q1 results and ongoing cloud/AI growth, supporting the case for additional upside. Alphabet: The A-Z AI Play Set To Profit From The Whole Industry
• Positive Sentiment: Several large investors disclosed higher stakes in Alphabet, including Capital World Investors and other institutions, which can reinforce confidence in the stock’s long-term fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: One fund update showed a large reduction in GOOG holdings by Capital International Investors, but this appears to be portfolio rebalancing rather than a direct company-specific warning.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet still faces regulatory pressure in Europe, including efforts to avoid an EU antitrust fine tied to spam-policy changes and broader DMA compliance concerns.

Alphabet Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $399.06 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $160.93 and a 12 month high of $399.93. The stock has a market cap of $4.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $323.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $315.48.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued 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 is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

About Alphabet

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.