Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Forsta AP Fonden

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden reduced its Alphabet stake by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 53,100 shares and leaving it with 1,316,400 shares valued at about $413.1 million.
• Alphabet’s latest fundamentals remain strong: the company reported $5.11 EPS on $109.9 billion in quarterly revenue, both above expectations, while revenue rose 21.8% year over year.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on GOOG, with five Strong Buy and 29 Buy ratings, and analysts lifting price targets as the consensus target price sits at $376.00.

Forsta AP Fonden cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,316,400 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 53,100 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 2.4% of Forsta AP Fonden's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Alphabet were worth $413,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ring Mountain Capital LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,174,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC now owns 919 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC now owns 4,124 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Freedom Capital downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $376.00.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $365.76 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.33 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The company has a market capitalization of $4.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $350.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $327.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet signed a major cloud-computing agreement with SpaceX, with reports putting the deal at about $920 million per month for 32 months, which could provide a meaningful revenue stream and reinforce demand for Google Cloud. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s municipal-bond debut drew strong investor demand, suggesting institutions still view the company as a high-quality borrower with flexible financing options. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors and analysts said the equity raise is a strategic move to accelerate AI infrastructure and may help Alphabet defend and expand its long-term leadership in search, cloud, and AI. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also appeared in commentary about AI-related partnerships, including potential indirect benefits from the SpaceX IPO and other cloud collaborations, but these are mostly longer-term strategic themes rather than immediate catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street coverage focused heavily on Alphabet’s expanding capital expenditures, with some commentators warning that the AI buildout may be getting too expensive and could pressure free cash flow. Article Title

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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