Vista Capital Partners Inc. Acquires 1,646 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,891 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,646 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.3% of Vista Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Vista Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 4,008,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Alphabet by 28.0% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Alphabet by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,333,076,000 after purchasing an additional 6,874,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,186,112 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,984,744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,292 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Q1 results were highlighted as one of the strongest among the Mag 7, with Google Cloud showing accelerating sales growth and broader AI momentum helping investor sentiment. Alphabet and NVIDIA: The Biggest Mag 7 Winners This Earnings Season
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s I/O announcements continued to reinforce Alphabet’s AI story, including new AI search experiences, agent tools, and upcoming AI glasses that suggest the company is expanding beyond traditional search. We tried Google’s AI glasses and they’re almost there
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with multiple firms reiterating positive views and new AI ad formats seen as potentially boosting conversions and monetization in Search and Commerce. Alphabet’s new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled a $15 billion Missouri data center investment, underscoring continued capital spending to support AI infrastructure and cloud demand. Google Unveils $15 Billion Missouri Data Center Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles discussed Google’s revamped AI-driven search experience and agent ecosystem, which are strategically important but still too early to measure their near-term financial impact. Google is pitching an AI agent ecosystem to consumers who may not buy it
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo temporarily suspended service in multiple cities after robotaxis drove into flooded roads, adding another safety and execution concern for Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s appeal of the antitrust ruling remains the biggest overhang, since a loss or forced remedies could eventually weigh on the company’s core search and advertising economics. Google appeals US court ruling on search monopoly

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price target (up from $395.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $412.65.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $382.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company has a market capitalization of $4.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $337.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $321.26. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $162.00 and a one year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

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.