Noked Israel Ltd Buys Shares of 186,380 Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Noked Israel Ltd bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 186,380 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $58,486,000. Alphabet makes up about 9.4% of Noked Israel Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,093,665,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 8.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after acquiring an additional 7,904,434 shares in the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,017,756,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $678,198,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $358.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $357.71 and a 200 day moving average of $329.44. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.33 and a 1 year high of $404.47. 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:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost 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 is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s drone-delivery unit Wing expanded into seven more U.S. cities with Walmart, reinforcing that its Other Bets can scale into real businesses and may be more valuable than the market gives them credit for.
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo launched a $29.99 monthly membership program, adding a recurring-revenue layer to its robotaxi business and highlighting rapid growth in paid rides, which investors may see as a meaningful long-term opportunity.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst and commentary pieces remain constructive on Alphabet’s AI, cloud, and search setup, with some calling it an AI powerhouse and lifting price targets, which supports the stock’s bullish narrative.
• Positive Sentiment: Google is also expanding its real-estate listings nationwide and continuing to deepen its AI infrastructure and chip strategy, reinforcing multiple growth avenues beyond search advertising.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google filed suit against an alleged Chinese cybercrime group that used AI to scam victims, a move that shows the company is actively defending its platforms, though the stock impact is likely limited unless the issue escalates.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet declined a $2 billion U.S. quantum-computing funding program, saying the terms could slow development; that may be viewed as a strategic choice rather than a major financial event.
• Neutral Sentiment: News that some billionaire investors sold Alphabet in Q1 while others bought more adds to the debate, but it does not change the underlying business fundamentals by itself.
• Negative Sentiment: Some recent coverage continues to focus on worries about rising capital expenditures and AI monetization, which can pressure sentiment if investors fear Alphabet’s AI spending will take longer to pay off.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI Overview feature has also faced renewed controversy, adding another small overhang around search quality and user trust.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.78.

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.