Macquarie Group Ltd. Has $481.73 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Macquarie Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,535,138 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 317,765 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.1% of Macquarie Group Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Macquarie Group Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $481,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its stake in Alphabet by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $435.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.78.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $358.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.33 and a 52 week high of $404.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $357.71 and a 200-day moving average of $329.44.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s drone-delivery unit Wing expanded into seven more U.S. cities with Walmart, reinforcing that its Other Bets can scale into real businesses and may be more valuable than the market gives them credit for.
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo launched a $29.99 monthly membership program, adding a recurring-revenue layer to its robotaxi business and highlighting rapid growth in paid rides, which investors may see as a meaningful long-term opportunity.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst and commentary pieces remain constructive on Alphabet’s AI, cloud, and search setup, with some calling it an AI powerhouse and lifting price targets, which supports the stock’s bullish narrative.
• Positive Sentiment: Google is also expanding its real-estate listings nationwide and continuing to deepen its AI infrastructure and chip strategy, reinforcing multiple growth avenues beyond search advertising.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google filed suit against an alleged Chinese cybercrime group that used AI to scam victims, a move that shows the company is actively defending its platforms, though the stock impact is likely limited unless the issue escalates.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet declined a $2 billion U.S. quantum-computing funding program, saying the terms could slow development; that may be viewed as a strategic choice rather than a major financial event.
• Neutral Sentiment: News that some billionaire investors sold Alphabet in Q1 while others bought more adds to the debate, but it does not change the underlying business fundamentals by itself.
• Negative Sentiment: Some recent coverage continues to focus on worries about rising capital expenditures and AI monetization, which can pressure sentiment if investors fear Alphabet’s AI spending will take longer to pay off.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI Overview feature has also faced renewed controversy, adding another small overhang around search quality and user trust.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at $7,132,701. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The shares were 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 owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.