Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Boosted by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,949,453 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 72,119 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 3.0% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,054,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $379.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Dbs Bank lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. New Street Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $515.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $419.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total value of $2,232,808.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total value of $27,337.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,914 shares in the company, valued at $6,305,738.46. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway sharply increased its Alphabet position. Berkshire disclosed an 83% second-quarter increase, adding approximately 48 million shares and bringing its holding to nearly 106 million shares valued at about $37 billion. Warren Buffett said he initiated the investment, reinforcing the view that Alphabet offers strong cash generation, attractive valuation and durable growth. Berkshire Just Made a Huge Alphabet Bet—Should You Follow?
• Positive Sentiment: Other prominent investors also reported Alphabet purchases. Filings indicated buying by investors including David Tepper, Stanley Druckenmiller and Seth Klarman, adding to the institutional endorsement of GOOGL’s AI, cloud and advertising outlook. Billionaires Loading Into Alphabet Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is expanding its AI capabilities. Google agreed to pay $10 million for anonymized Spirit Airlines business data and software for product development and AI training, while some employees from workflow-automation startup Relay are joining Google’s Chrome team. These moves support continued investment in AI products, though the direct financial impact is likely limited. Google to Buy Spirit Airlines Business Data
• Neutral Sentiment: AI spending is creating both opportunity and financing pressure. Alphabet was among several companies issuing large volumes of AI-related debt, potentially funding cloud and data-center expansion but increasing interest costs and balance-sheet risk. Reports that Alphabet is considering an Australian-dollar bond could reinforce that concern. AI’s Borrowing Binge
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP announced an investigation into potential claims on behalf of Alphabet investors. The release provided few details, and an investigation does not establish wrongdoing, but the announcement could create short-term legal and reputational pressure. Pomerantz Investor Alert

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $344.17 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $352.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $341.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.60 and a 1-year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.