WCM Investment Management LLC Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 287.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,886 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,883 shares during the quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,534,239,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 855.3% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 13,004,828 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,567,398,000 after buying an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,910,542,000 after buying an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 28,950.0% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 9,259,940 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $333.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.82 and a 1-year high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $358.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $339.18.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total transaction of $27,337.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,914 shares in the company, valued at $6,305,738.46. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 600,547 shares of company stock valued at $16,255,540. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $419.86.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is reportedly backing a potential $15 billion Texas data-center project tied to Anthropic, providing financial guarantees and chips. The project could strengthen Google Cloud’s AI infrastructure position and create additional demand for Alphabet’s services, although the guarantees also add financial exposure. Anthropic data center financing
• Positive Sentiment: Google said AI-assisted development enabled it to fix more Chrome security vulnerabilities in June than during the previous two years combined. Faster security improvements could support Chrome’s reliability and Google’s broader AI-productivity narrative. Google Chrome security improvements
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains broadly favorable: Erste Group raised its 2026 EPS forecast to $20.50 from $14.27, above the roughly $20.15 consensus, while other firms maintain bullish ratings and targets. Alphabet also expanded its Gemini partnership with Oracle, potentially widening enterprise AI distribution. Alphabet growth-stock analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s strong Azure and Copilot results reinforce robust enterprise AI demand, but they also highlight the intense competition among hyperscalers and may raise investor expectations for Google Cloud.
• Negative Sentiment: Reddit’s CEO said Google’s AI Overviews have not replaced the referral value of traditional “10 blue links.” Reduced traffic to publishers could increase pressure on Google’s search ecosystem and raise questions about how AI summaries will protect advertising economics. Reddit CEO comments on Google AI Overviews
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet faces additional sentiment headwinds from securities-law investigations and recent insider or major-shareholder stock sales. These filings are relatively small compared with Alphabet’s market value, but they can weigh on confidence during a post-earnings selloff.

Alphabet Company 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.