North Dakota State Investment Board Invests $50.96 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 162,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $50,955,000. Alphabet comprises about 1.9% of North Dakota State Investment Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $132,114,125,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,240,469,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904,434 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $678,198,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $869,781,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $455,745,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google used its Marketing Live event to roll out AI-powered ad products tied to Gemini, including conversational ads, smarter Shopping Ads, and checkout inside AI search results — a sign that Alphabet is turning its AI push into new revenue opportunities. Google Wants Ads to Talk Back in AI Search
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports highlighted Alphabet’s strong AI and cloud momentum, including Google Cloud expansion, Gemini adoption, and a bullish outlook that sees the company benefiting from continued search and advertising strength. What Google Search’s New AI Mode Means for B2B Discovery
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary and analyst chatter continued to frame Alphabet as a leading AI beneficiary, with some price targets and forecasts implying meaningful upside from current levels. Is Most-Watched Stock Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Worth Betting on Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention remains elevated after Google I/O and the company’s AI overhaul, but some coverage warns that publishers could lose traffic as search becomes more AI-driven. Google Search AI Overhaul Leaves Publishers Bracing For ‘Google Zero’
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet faces fresh regulatory overhang after reports said the EU is preparing a record antitrust penalty over alleged search favoritism under the Digital Markets Act, which could pressure sentiment. EU plans to fine Google high triple-digit million euro sum, Handelsblatt reports
• Negative Sentiment: Some headlines also noted user pushback against Google’s AI Search changes and reports of DuckDuckGo gaining installs, suggesting potential concern about how users will react to the new search experience. DuckDuckGo installs are up 30% as users reject being ‘force-fed’ Google’s AI Search

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $348.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. DZ Bank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $372.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the sale, the director 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $384.84 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.33 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $338.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $322.49. 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 $4.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.81 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Alphabet Company 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.