Fisher Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,106,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 583,078 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 4.0% of Fisher Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,927,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Symmetry Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Members Trust Co raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,489,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Insight 2811 Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,274,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4%

GOOGL stock opened at $363.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $354.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $328.67. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market cap of $4.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s long-term AI opportunity remains a major bullish theme, with analysts arguing the company’s heavy investment could support future revenue growth and strengthen its competitive position in search, cloud, and AI. Alphabet: CapEx Pressure Is Real, But The Long-Term AI Opportunity Is Bigger
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to benefit from broader AI enthusiasm, including reports that Apple is turning to Google for help with its AI overhaul and that Google’s cloud and AI capabilities are being tied to major customer wins and partnerships. Apple tries again on AI, turns to Google for help
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo remains a strategic asset for Alphabet, with new robotaxi-related developments highlighting the unit’s leadership in autonomous driving and potential to unlock long-term value. Uber, Wayve and Waymo are headed towards a robotaxi showdown in London
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is drawing investor attention after its latest earnings results showed strong quarterly performance, including earnings and revenue that beat expectations, which helps support the stock’s long-term valuation. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s dividend and other capital-return details are also getting attention, but these are unlikely to be the main driver of the stock’s move today. Google to pay dividends next week; Here’s how much 100 GOOGL shares will earn
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are sliding because investors appear worried that Alphabet’s expanding AI spending could pressure margins and require more capital than expected before those investments pay off. What’s Going On With Alphabet Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent market-wide volatility has also weighed on megacap tech stocks, adding to the weakness in Alphabet despite the company’s long-term AI story. Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock Slides as Market Rises: Facts to Know Before You Trade

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Phillip Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Arete Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. New Street Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.