SEB Asset Management AB Buys Shares of 1,507,039 Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,507,039 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $432,309,000. Alphabet comprises about 1.8% of SEB Asset Management AB’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.6% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 14,281,400 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,096,762,000 after purchasing an additional 889,600 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 11,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,228,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,218,000. AIA Group Ltd raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 75,564 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $21,676,000 after purchasing an additional 9,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 800,992 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $218,783,000 after buying an additional 27,482 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $416.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, July 17th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $383.44.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates, driven by strong search, ads, and especially Google Cloud growth. S&P 500, Nasdaq close lower ahead of technology earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud growth accelerated sharply on AI demand, reinforcing the case that Alphabet’s AI investments are translating into revenue. Google quarterly cloud revenue growth beats expectations
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube ad revenue rose 13%, adding another sign that Alphabet’s core advertising business remains resilient. YouTube Ad Revenue Rises 13% In Q2 To Surpass $11 Billion
• Positive Sentiment: Google said Gemini has reached 950 million monthly active users, suggesting improving traction in consumer AI. Google’s Gemini app nips at ChatGPT’s heels as it nears 1 billion users

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was 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 represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $341.91 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $188.70 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $363.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $337.49. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $6.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.34 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given 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 yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

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.