Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Magellan Asset Management Ltd lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 409,608 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 53,656 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.5% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $117,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $58,712,878,000 after purchasing an additional 953,790 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,569,189,000 after buying an additional 1,073,151 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at $6,615,656.24. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $379.00 price target (down from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $410.09.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $319.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $360.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $337.38. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $188.70 and a 1-year high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.34 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet posted a strong Q2 beat, with revenue and EPS coming in ahead of expectations, while Google Cloud revenue surged 82% and cloud margins improved sharply.
• Positive Sentiment: AI and product demand remain strong, with management saying AI usage is rising across Search, Cloud, and Gemini, supporting the long-term growth story.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts reiterated bullish views or raised targets, and multiple commentary pieces argued the stock looks attractive after the pullback.
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon signed a deal worth more than $1 billion with Google for dark fiber connectivity, adding another sign of infrastructure demand tied to Alphabet’s data-center buildout. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo is reportedly considering ending its Uber partnership, which could affect how quickly Alphabet’s robotaxi business scales, but the direct financial impact is still unclear. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also disclosed a large SpaceX stake and saw some institutional holders trim positions, but these items are secondary to the main debate over AI spending and cash flow.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors were unnerved by Alphabet’s higher CapEx guidance and negative free cash flow, which raised concerns that AI spending may be outpacing near-term returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet was also hit by an EU antitrust fine of about $1 billion, adding another regulatory overhang. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Moody’s warned that the industry-wide AI buildout could threaten credit quality at Alphabet and other hyperscalers, reinforcing concerns about balance-sheet strain from heavy infrastructure investment. Article Title

About Alphabet

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.