Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Lindsell Train Ltd

Key Points

• Lindsell Train Ltd cut its Alphabet stake by 18.4% in the first quarter, selling 383,959 shares and leaving it with 1.7 million shares worth about $490.2 million.
• Despite some selling by that fund and a few insiders, Alphabet remains heavily owned by institutions, with 40.03% of shares held by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Analysts remain bullish on GOOGL: the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.54, while recent earnings beat expectations with EPS of $5.11 on revenue of $109.9 billion.

Lindsell Train Ltd reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 18.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,704,639 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 383,959 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 15.6% of Lindsell Train Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Lindsell Train Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $490,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth 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 period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 4,008,374 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th 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 acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Phillip Securities raised their target price on Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.54.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.8%

Alphabet stock opened at $358.89 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $372.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $336.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $4.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.38 and a 12 month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is 6.71%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the sale, the director owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to be viewed as a leading AI beneficiary thanks to its broad distribution across Search, Android, YouTube, Google Cloud and custom chips, which could help it monetize AI spending more effectively than peers. Alphabet vs. Meta: Which AI Stock Is the Better Buy Right Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerage coverage remains favorable, with a report saying analysts see about 10% upside for Alphabet after its recent earnings strength, and another note saying brokerages rate the stock a “Moderate Buy.”
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is still being highlighted as a top internet and cloud stock positioned to benefit from heavy AI infrastructure spending, supporting the view that growth can continue even as the market rotates among tech leaders.
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s recent $10 billion private placement in Alphabet is continuing to attract bullish attention, signaling institutional confidence in the company’s long-term value and AI potential.
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo’s plan to expand driverless rides to four more major cities adds another long-term growth avenue outside core advertising and cloud businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google is rolling out disclosures showing when ads were made with AI, which may improve transparency but does not appear to be a major near-term financial driver.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s search product hit record query volume during the World Cup, underscoring usage strength in the core business, though this is more of an engagement datapoint than a direct earnings catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Google is appealing an Indian ruling tied to trademark issues in its ads platform, creating a legal/regulatory headline that could weigh on sentiment around the advertising business. Google appeals Indian ruling over its ads platform, citing consumer harm
• Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary notes that Alphabet has pulled back alongside other mega-cap tech names as investors rotate toward other parts of the AI trade, which may be contributing to the stock’s weakness today.

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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