Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by ProShare Advisors LLC

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its Alphabet stake by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 799,376 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 4.35 million shares worth about $1.36 billion.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.11 versus the $2.64 consensus estimate and revenue of $109.9 billion, both ahead of Wall Street expectations.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21, while analysts remain generally bullish with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $413.13.

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,354,281 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 799,376 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.4% of ProShare Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,362,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 17.6% in the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.2% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $85,557,000 after acquiring an additional 48,805 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.9% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,495,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

Alphabet stock opened at $368.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.00 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $352.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $327.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report 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 report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $435.00 price target (up from $427.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Two investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $413.13.

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'

About Alphabet

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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