Alphabet Inc. $GOOG is North Star Asset Management Inc.'s 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• North Star Asset Management trimmed its Alphabet stake by 4.6% in Q4, but GOOG remains its 4th-largest holding at 2.7% of portfolio value, worth about $67.4 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.11 and revenue of $109.9 billion, both ahead of expectations; revenue was up 21.8% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share, while recent headlines highlight potential upside from Waymo and Google Cloud AI partnerships alongside some reputational and product-related concerns.

North Star Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 214,685 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 10,353 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.7% of North Star Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. North Star Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $67,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 76.2% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $330,886,000 after buying an additional 806,681 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 7.7% in the second quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,409,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.7% in the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,618,000 after buying an additional 3,616 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,955,564. The trade was a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. DZ Bank raised shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $372.65.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Waymo unit is rolling out its new “Ojai” robotaxi to select riders in major U.S. cities, with a roomier design, lower manufacturing costs, and a removable steering wheel — all signs that the autonomous vehicle business may become more scalable and economically viable. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet also announced a Google Cloud partnership with EQT to help more than 300 portfolio companies accelerate AI adoption, reinforcing cloud and AI as key growth drivers for the company beyond advertising. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary from Jim Cramer and several market notes described Alphabet as a “crucial position” and suggested investors still may be underestimating Waymo’s value, which can help sentiment but does not change fundamentals by itself. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also interest in Alphabet’s AI-search changes and new Gemini-powered ad formats, which could improve monetization over time, but some observers say the overhaul is still controversial and early reactions are mixed. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Federal prosecutors charged a Google software engineer with using confidential information to make about $1.2 million on Polymarket bets, creating unwanted reputational risk for Alphabet and adding headlines that may pressure sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s recent AI Search overhaul is also drawing criticism, with some users and rival search services benefiting as concerns grow that Google’s changes could hurt traffic patterns and user satisfaction. Article Title

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $386.12 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $341.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $323.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.45, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.33 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.41%.

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.

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