Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Deltec Asset Management LLC's Largest Position

Key Points

• Deltec Asset Management trimmed its Alphabet stake by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, but Alphabet still remained its largest position, making up about 9% of the portfolio.
• Alphabet continues to draw bullish analyst and investor attention, with several firms raising price targets and the stock benefiting from optimism around its AI momentum ahead of Google I/O.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and also announced a higher quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share.

Deltec Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 172,943 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,813 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 9.0% of Deltec Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Deltec Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $54,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $4,338,397,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 6,874,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Cayman LP raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 23,402.1% in the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 6,118,547 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,487,419,000 after buying an additional 6,092,513 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Loop Capital raised its price target on Alphabet to $490 and kept a buy rating, while Oppenheimer lifted its target to $445 with an outperform rating, reinforcing confidence in the company’s growth outlook. Loop Capital price target update Oppenheimer price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports pointed to Alphabet’s AI momentum ahead of Google I/O, including growing customer adoption of Gemini Flash and expectations that the event will showcase more AI innovation. Business Insider on Gemini Flash adoption BofA note on Google I/O
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts also raised forward earnings estimates for Alphabet, suggesting continued confidence in monetization and profit growth. Alphabet earnings estimate update
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet completed a record-breaking yen bond sale, giving it fresh funding capacity to expand AI infrastructure while diversifying its financing sources. Yen bond issuance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around Alphabet’s YouTube revenue, the company’s role in AI infrastructure, and Bill Ackman’s continued interest in mega-cap tech adds to the positive narrative, but these items are more supportive context than direct catalysts. YouTube revenue article Bill Ackman Mag 7 article
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage highlighted Alphabet’s valuation and the broader crowding in AI/mega-cap tech, which could make the stock more vulnerable if sentiment cools. Valuation rerating article UBS crowding warning
• Negative Sentiment: A report that Google may cap new Gmail accounts at 5GB of free storage could be seen as a consumer-unfriendly move and a possible engagement risk if implemented broadly. Gmail storage cap article
• Negative Sentiment: There was also some concern around competition and execution in AI and adjacent hardware, including comparison pieces on Alphabet versus Nvidia and broader AI rivalry. AI competition article

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $390.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, President Capital upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $410.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 157,953 shares of company stock valued at $47,767,818. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $396.78 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. The firm's 50-day moving average is $329.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.27. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.00 and a twelve month high of $403.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.27, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

Alphabet 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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