Van Diest Capital LLC Invests $1.13 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Van Diest Capital LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 3,610 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,133,000. Alphabet accounts for about 1.7% of Van Diest Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 8,128,234 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $58,712,878,000 after purchasing an additional 953,790 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position in Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,569,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 71,841,419 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,543,838,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,013 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s broader AI and cloud story remains strong, with recent commentary highlighting solid earnings momentum, expanding Google Cloud backlog, and ongoing AI-related spending that could support future growth. AI Spending Is Strengthening the Alphabet (GOOGL) Bull Case
• Positive Sentiment: Google also announced a $1.5 billion investment to expand its Alabama data center campus, reinforcing its long-term infrastructure buildout for AI and cloud demand. Alphabet Announces $1.5 Billion Investment Across 2026 And 2027 To Expand Its Alabama Data Center Campus
• Positive Sentiment: Banking win: HSBC signed an AI deal with Google Cloud, adding another enterprise customer and supporting Alphabet’s cloud adoption narrative. HSBC signs AI deal with Google Cloud
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet director John L. Hennessy disclosed a sale of 1,050 shares. Insider selling can draw attention, but the transaction was relatively small versus Alphabet’s overall market value. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo recalled about 3,871 robotaxis after software issues caused some vehicles to enter closed freeway construction zones, renewing safety concerns around Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit. Waymo to recall over 3,800 robotaxis over risk of entering closed construction zones
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet also lost Noam Shazeer, a key Gemini AI leader, to OpenAI, which may fuel concerns about competition for top AI talent. Google’s Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer to join OpenAI
• Negative Sentiment: New U.K. rules requiring Google to be more transparent and fair in search rankings add another layer of regulatory pressure on its core search business. UK regulator sets out conduct requirements for Google’s search services

Alphabet Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $367.46 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.33 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $363.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $330.81. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $435.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $470.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Phillip Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 160,516 shares of company stock worth $7,344,604. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.