Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Profund Advisors LLC's 8th Largest Position

Key Points

• Profund Advisors LLC trimmed its Alphabet stake by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, but Alphabet still ranked as its 8th-largest holding at 2.2% of the portfolio. The position was worth about $71.4 million at the end of the reporting period.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive, with several analysts raising price targets and maintaining buy ratings. Alphabet’s average analyst rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $413.13.
• Alphabet continues to show strong fundamentals, posting better-than-expected quarterly results with $5.11 EPS and $109.9 billion in revenue. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share and continues to benefit from major AI and cloud developments, including a cloud deal with SpaceX.

Profund Advisors LLC reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 228,088 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,891 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.2% of Profund Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Profund Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $71,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $69,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

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'

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $368.53 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.00 and a 1-year high of $408.61. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $352.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $327.81. The firm has a market cap of $4.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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