Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Chelsea Counsel Co.'s 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Chelsea Counsel Co. reduced its Alphabet stake by 11.6% in the first quarter, selling 4,510 shares. Alphabet remains the firm’s fifth-largest holding, representing 4.3% of its portfolio and worth approximately $9.85 billion.
• Alphabet reported quarterly EPS of $9.11, well above the $2.89 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $119.8 billion versus expectations of $117.07 billion. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with Alphabet carrying an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $419.86. Investors continue to point to strong Google Cloud growth, AI monetization prospects and the company’s cash generation as key catalysts.

Chelsea Counsel Co. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 11.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,239 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,510 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 4.3% of Chelsea Counsel Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Chelsea Counsel Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $277,696,000 after acquiring an additional 93,293 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 2.6% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $25,679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269 shares in the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $28,902,000. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co lifted its stake in Alphabet by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 118,966 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,236,000 after purchasing an additional 17,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 66.1% during the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 22,877 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,161,000 after purchasing an additional 9,105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $354.30 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.60 and a 1-year high of $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $355.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $340.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.42%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue reportedly increased 82% in the second quarter, with backlog reaching $514 billion, while the Gemini app reached approximately 950 million monthly active users. The results reinforce the commercial demand supporting Alphabet’s AI and cloud investments. Google's AI business is booming, so why are DeepMind's biggest names quitting?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to highlight Alphabet’s strong cash generation, balance sheet and valuation relative to its growth prospects. Some market models see the shares reaching $400 as Cloud momentum and AI monetization continue. Price Prediction: Google Will Hit $400 on This Date
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s expanded Google Cloud partnership with AI lab Mirendil, reportedly worth more than $100 million over multiple years, provides another example of demand for its computing infrastructure. Mirendil Google Cloud deal

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on GOOGL. Freedom Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $515.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $419.86.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total value of $27,337.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,305,738.46. This represents a 0.43% 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, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 600,547 shares of company stock valued at $16,255,540. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

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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