Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Position Boosted by Headinvest LLC

Key Points

• Headinvest LLC increased its Alphabet stake by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 42,609 shares valued at about $13.34 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions, and hedge funds now own 40.03% of Alphabet’s stock. Insider selling was also notable, with 226,481 shares sold in the last quarter.
• Analysts remain upbeat on Alphabet, with multiple firms raising price targets and the consensus rating sitting at Moderate Buy. The company also recently reported strong Q1 results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

Headinvest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,609 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,393 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 2.7% of Headinvest LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Headinvest LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 178.4% during the 4th quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 39,835 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,468,000 after acquiring an additional 25,524 shares in the last quarter. Sun Financial Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,456,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,525 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,737,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 40,060 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,539,000 after acquiring an additional 5,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,331 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $730,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,908,391. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Dbs Bank boosted their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $412.65.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Q1 results were highlighted as one of the strongest among the Mag 7, with Google Cloud showing accelerating sales growth and broader AI momentum helping investor sentiment. Alphabet and NVIDIA: The Biggest Mag 7 Winners This Earnings Season
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s I/O announcements continued to reinforce Alphabet’s AI story, including new AI search experiences, agent tools, and upcoming AI glasses that suggest the company is expanding beyond traditional search. We tried Google's AI glasses and they're almost there
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with multiple firms reiterating positive views and new AI ad formats seen as potentially boosting conversions and monetization in Search and Commerce. Alphabet's new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled a $15 billion Missouri data center investment, underscoring continued capital spending to support AI infrastructure and cloud demand. Google Unveils $15 Billion Missouri Data Center Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles discussed Google’s revamped AI-driven search experience and agent ecosystem, which are strategically important but still too early to measure their near-term financial impact. Google is pitching an AI agent ecosystem to consumers who may not buy it
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo temporarily suspended service in multiple cities after robotaxis drove into flooded roads, adding another safety and execution concern for Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s appeal of the antitrust ruling remains the biggest overhang, since a loss or forced remedies could eventually weigh on the company’s core search and advertising economics. Google appeals US court ruling on search monopoly

Alphabet Stock Down 1.2%

GOOGL opened at $382.97 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $337.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $321.26. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.00 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market cap of $4.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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