IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $337.81 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,174,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 54,947 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.8% of IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $337,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Alphabet from $435.00 to $416.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities increased their price objective on Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.54.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $361.92 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $372.28 and a 200 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. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $172.77 and a 1-year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.