Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd.

Key Points

• Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. reduced its Alphabet stake by 8.3% in the first quarter, selling 34,473 shares and leaving it with 381,490 shares worth about $109.7 million. Alphabet remained its second-largest holding.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $5.11 versus the $2.64 estimate and revenue of $109.9 billion, ahead of expectations. Analysts now forecast full-year EPS of 14.32.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21, while Wall Street sentiment stays positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.92.

Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 381,490 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 34,473 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 11.7% of Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $109,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $45,625,595,000 after buying an additional 2,666,676 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased 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 valued at $21,630,861,000 after buying an additional 3,218,852 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of GOOGL traded down $1.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $357.18. The company had a trading volume of 18,122,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,870,564. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.48 and a 1-year high of $408.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $372.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $336.44. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating and issued a $460.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $413.92.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its price target on Alphabet to $445 from $425 and kept an overweight rating, reinforcing the view that the stock still has meaningful upside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple upbeat articles highlighted Alphabet as a leading AI and cloud beneficiary, with commentary pointing to strong distribution through Search, Android, YouTube, Google Cloud, and chips as reasons it could monetize AI better than peers.
• Positive Sentiment: New coverage argued Alphabet looks undervalued after a big run over the past year, while other pieces said the company remains one of the most attractive megacap tech names on a risk/reward basis.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and other market commentators continued to include GOOGL among cloud and internet stocks positioned to benefit from AI-driven data center spending and digital demand growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Business and tech commentary also pointed to product and platform strengths, including Google Search setting records during the World Cup and Waymo planning more driverless-car expansion, which support the long-term growth narrative.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet said it will begin disclosing which ads are generated with AI, a transparency move that may help trust and compliance but is unlikely to materially change near-term earnings.
• Neutral Sentiment: Britain moved to regulate Google as a critical cloud supplier to protect financial stability; the change adds oversight, but it also underscores the importance of Google Cloud rather than signaling a fundamental business setback.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reported that Google is appealing an Indian ads-related trademark ruling, a legal issue that could create some noise but does not yet appear to be a major stock-moving event.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent short-interest data was effectively flat at zero shares reported, offering little actionable signal for traders.
• Negative Sentiment: One Reuters-linked report said Google and OpenAI provided AI services to Singapore-based subsidiaries of Chinese groups on the Pentagon blacklist, which could raise regulatory scrutiny and geopolitical concerns.
• Negative Sentiment: Technical commentary noted Alphabet is testing a key resistance zone after a recovery, suggesting the stock may need a fresh catalyst to extend its move higher.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511 in the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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