OP Asset Management Ltd Invests $331.91 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,157,043 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $331,909,000. Alphabet accounts for 3.3% of OP Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% in 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 buying an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 850.3% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,551,938,000 after buying an additional 15,830,754 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after buying an additional 8,128,234 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 151,523 shares of company stock worth $4,863,526 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.2%

GOOG opened at $334.71 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $366.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $331.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.71 and a 12 month high of $404.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.53, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $470.00 price target (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $376.78.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s advertising business is still growing, with one analyst note pointing to rising ad revenues and AI-driven ad tools as a source of further upside. Alphabet Benefits From Rising Advertising Revenues: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said the recent sell-off in big tech and AI names looks more like a buying opportunity than a broken AI thesis, and included Alphabet among the core beneficiaries of the AI trend. Wedbush brushes off tech sell-off as buying chance in multi-year AI bull run
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to get bullish long-term commentary from investors who see it as a strong growth and AI compounder, helped by Google Cloud momentum and AI monetization potential. Alphabet: Still A Top-Tier AI Compounder
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is set to join the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is a notable index inclusion but not an immediate fundamental catalyst. Alphabet Set to Join Dow Jones Industrial Average as Verizon Exits Index (GOOG)
• Neutral Sentiment: A new bill would study data-center energy and water measurement standards, which could eventually affect Alphabet’s cloud and AI infrastructure, but it does not create immediate regulation. New Bill: Representative Suhas Subramanyam introduces H.R. 9372: Data Infrastructure Energy Measurement and Standards Act
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern is centered on Google’s AI talent exodus, with reports of more researchers leaving for rivals like Anthropic, raising worries about execution in Gemini and broader AI competitiveness. Alphabet Shares Fall After Report on Further AI Talent Departures
• Negative Sentiment: A separate report said Google is taking a tougher stance with publishers to secure broader content access for AI training, while publishers warn that traffic declines are already hurting them, adding to regulatory and relationship risk. Google looks to bleed publishers with new AI partnerships that would cull their content
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles this week continued to highlight weakness in the “all-in on AI” trade and pressure on Alphabet shares tied to AI talent losses and competitive fears. Ranking the FAANG Stocks From Most to Least Attractive, Based on Future Cash Flow

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.