Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Alta Capital Management LLC's Largest Position

Alta Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 26.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 400,710 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 141,080 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 8.4% of Alta Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Alta Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $125,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after purchasing an additional 4,008,374 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.7% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,333,076,000 after purchasing an additional 6,874,381 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,186,112 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,984,744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,292 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet secured a major cloud deal with SpaceX, adding a high-profile customer and boosting the investment case for its AI infrastructure business. SpaceX signs cloud deal with Google
• Positive Sentiment: New Street Research raised its price target on Alphabet to $455 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports said Google’s AI search and chatbot products faced criticism after an audit found many chatbot responses on elections were flawed, which may keep pressure on Alphabet’s AI credibility. Over 90% of AI chatbot answers about midterm elections are flawed, stunning analysis shows
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s large equity raise and higher AI capex guidance are still weighing on sentiment because investors are questioning how quickly those investments will pay off. Alphabet is seeking fresh capital as stock's 4-week losing streak tests investor appetite
• Negative Sentiment: Google also faces regulatory pressure in the UK over publisher-content rules in AI search, adding another policy risk for the business. Google search facing UK 'conduct requirement'

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating and issued a $460.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,132,701. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

GOOGL stock opened at $368.53 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.00 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The company's 50 day moving average is $352.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $327.81. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

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.

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