Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Purchased by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 23.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,973,424 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 381,180 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.9% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $566,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $132,114,125,000 after buying an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $58,712,878,000 after buying an additional 953,790 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in Alphabet by 38,409.2% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,643,262,000 after buying an additional 179,369,280 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after acquiring an additional 111,699,704 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,569,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,151 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reported a strong second quarter, with revenue up 24% year over year to $119.8 billion and earnings of $9.11 per share, well above estimates. Google Cloud growth, reported at approximately 82%, and continued strength in Search and YouTube reinforced the company’s AI monetization story. Alphabet Stock Is Gaining Monday: What’s Going On?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and portfolio managers largely continue to support Alphabet’s long-term outlook. Bullish arguments point to enterprise AI adoption, a roughly $514 billion Cloud backlog, improving Cloud margins and early evidence that AI features can strengthen Search and other services. Berkshire Hathaway’s substantial Alphabet position also provides a notable vote of confidence. Alphabet Q2 Strength Reinforces the Bullish Case
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube reached a multiyear agreement with NBCUniversal to include Peacock content for U.S. YouTube Premium subscribers beginning in 2027. The deal could improve subscription value, engagement and YouTube’s competitive position in streaming. NBCUniversal and YouTube Ink Peacock Deal

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Phillip Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities set a $393.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 price target (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $410.09.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.3%

GOOG stock opened at $326.57 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $188.70 and a 52 week high of $404.47. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $359.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $337.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 17.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

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.