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

Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,240 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.9% of Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $50,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008,374 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,625,595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,676 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $21,630,861,000 after purchasing an additional 3,218,852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Dbs Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $420.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $346.59 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $349.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $341.86. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.20 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 4.42%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud and AI remain the main growth drivers. Rising Cloud revenue, AI adoption and a reported $514 billion backlog strengthen Alphabet’s competitive position against Microsoft and Amazon, although capacity constraints could limit near-term execution. Rising Cloud Revenue Strengthens Alphabet Against MSFT & AMZN
• Positive Sentiment: New Gemini and AI Mode features could increase user engagement and monetization. Google is expanding AI Mode to track flight prices and assist with hotel bookings, while reviews of its personal-intelligence tools suggest broader consumer adoption. Employees are also reportedly testing a next-generation Gemini Flash model. Google’s AI Mode can now track flight prices, help book hotels, and more
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment and technical momentum remain favorable. Brokerages maintain an average “Buy” recommendation, while technical commentary points to support above approximately $340. Alphabet’s valuation, margins and cash generation are viewed as attractive relative to many AI peers. Alphabet Receives Average Recommendation of Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s custom-chip strategy is creating demand for AI infrastructure. Marvell’s large Google-related AI-chip opportunity highlights Alphabet’s willingness to invest in proprietary computing capacity, potentially supporting long-term performance and reducing reliance on outside suppliers. Marvell’s Google AI-chip opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Google changed its European spam and site-reputation policy. The adjustment is intended to address European Commission concerns and reduce the risk of an antitrust fine, but it may affect how Google ranks publisher content and reflects ongoing regulatory pressure. Google changes spam policy in EU to avert antitrust fine
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risks continue to weigh on the investment case. Multiple law firms announced securities-fraud investigations, while Google agreed to a $353 million settlement with UK app developers. These announcements do not establish wrongdoing but could create financial and reputational costs. Google agrees to settle UK app developers’ lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: The FTC is reportedly considering action involving YouTube. The investigation concerns account suspensions and possible consumer-protection violations, adding another regulatory overhang for Alphabet. US FTC probes YouTube over social media policies

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 451,843 shares of company stock valued at $12,343,852 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Alphabet

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.