Veratis Advisors Inc. Makes New $706,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Veratis Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,975 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $706,000. Alphabet accounts for about 0.5% of Veratis Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,534,239,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in Alphabet by 855.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,546,413,000 after acquiring an additional 13,004,828 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 28,950.0% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,291,926 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,671,986,000 after purchasing an additional 9,259,940 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $330.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $235.84 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $347.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $343.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share 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 $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Zacks Research cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google announced plans to invest at least €13 billion ($15 billion) in Finnish data centers and AI infrastructure over the next two years—its largest-ever European investment. The facilities are expected to support Gemini, Search, Maps and YouTube, while a power agreement with Fortum, including nuclear energy, may help address AI’s substantial electricity needs. Google to invest $15 billion AI infrastructure in Finland
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud and Accenture launched a joint unit deploying 1,000 engineers to help companies implement AI agents. The initiative could accelerate enterprise adoption of Google’s cloud and AI services and improve monetization of Alphabet’s infrastructure spending. Google Cloud and Accenture AI deployment deal
• Positive Sentiment: Co-founder Sergey Brin is taking a more active role in advancing Gemini, signaling increased founder involvement as Alphabet seeks to strengthen its position in the AI race. Sergey Brin takes bigger role in Google AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts continue to cite Alphabet’s strong return on invested capital, balance sheet and rapidly growing Google Cloud business as long-term strengths. However, the stock’s valuation is being assessed alongside its expanding AI infrastructure commitments.
• Negative Sentiment: The scale of the Finland and broader AI buildout increases capital expenditures and is pressuring free cash flow, creating uncertainty about when the investments will generate sufficient returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s launch of the paid Muse AI agent raised concerns that autonomous assistants could bypass traditional search results, weakening Alphabet’s search advertising model. Higher Treasury yields are also weighing on high-multiple technology stocks. Meta Muse AI agent pressures Alphabet
• Negative Sentiment: Google warned that EU-mandated changes to its European search results could reduce search quality, increase costs for businesses and potentially affect user engagement. Google warns of lower-quality European search results

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology and holding company founded in 2015 through a restructuring of Google. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and operates globally, serving consumers, businesses, advertisers and developers across numerous countries and regions.

Alphabet’s largest business is Google Services, which includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and hardware products such as Pixel devices. These products support activities including internet search, digital content distribution, mobile computing, online communications and advertising.