Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 165,581 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,291 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.8% of Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $47,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $45,625,595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,676 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $21,630,861,000 after purchasing an additional 3,218,852 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $445.00 target price (up from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed 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. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, China Renaissance raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.90.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

GOOGL stock opened at $357.37 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $172.77 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $369.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $333.53. The stock has a market cap of $4.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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 of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet officially joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which boosted demand for the shares and highlighted the company’s growing importance in AI and large-cap tech. Alphabet debuts in Dow Jones Industrial Average as index tilts toward tech
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports pointed to bullish Wall Street views, including a higher price target from analysts and commentary that Alphabet remains a strong long-term growth stock. Alphabet Replaces Verizon In Dow Jones As Analyst Boosts Target To $415
• Positive Sentiment: Google introduced Nano Banana 2 Lite, a faster and cheaper AI image/video generator, which may strengthen its competitive position in generative AI. Google introduces a faster, cheaper image generator with Nano Banana 2 Lite
• Positive Sentiment: Visa and Google signed on to use the OpenUSD stablecoin for money movement, expanding Alphabet’s presence in digital payments and emerging commerce infrastructure. Visa and Google Sign on to Use Money Movement Stablecoin OpenUSD
• Neutral Sentiment: One director disclosed a small stock sale, which is routine and not large enough to signal a major change in fundamentals. Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulators are targeting Apple and Google app-store fees and payment restrictions, which could pressure Alphabet’s services revenue and app platform economics if rules are tightened. UK targets Apple, Google app store fees for developers
• Negative Sentiment: Some AI-related headlines noted talent loss to rivals and ongoing concerns about regulatory and AI-related risks, which may limit upside enthusiasm near term. Google hit by new AI brain drain as Anthropic poaches top Gemini talent

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 151,467 shares of company stock worth $4,877,600. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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