Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Maseco LLP

Key Points

• Maseco LLP cut its Alphabet stake by 74.3% in the first quarter, leaving it with 1,109 shares valued at about $319,000.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.11 versus estimates of $2.64 and revenue of $109.9 billion, both beating Wall Street expectations.
• Analysts remain bullish on GOOGL, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.90, while the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

Maseco LLP reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 74.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,109 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,205 shares during the quarter. Maseco LLP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Artesa Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Artesa Financial Group LLC now owns 900 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Balance Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.7% in the first quarter. Balance Wealth LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 118,114 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $33,965,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Haven Capital Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $6,934,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $125,146,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $361.21 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $172.77 and a one year high of $408.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $370.08 and a 200-day moving average of $333.88. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $445.00 price target (up from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Daiwa Securities Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $435.00 price target (up from $427.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.90.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s addition to the Dow Jones Industrial Average is boosting visibility and may increase index-related demand for GOOGL. Alphabet debuts in Dow Jones Industrial Average as index tilts toward tech
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s Nano Banana 2 Lite launch could strengthen its AI product lineup by offering a faster, cheaper creation tool. Google introduces a faster, cheaper image generator with Nano Banana 2 Lite
• Positive Sentiment: Visa and Google signing onto OpenUSD expands Alphabet’s footprint in digital payments infrastructure. Visa and Google Sign on to Use Money Movement Stablecoin OpenUSD
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent insider stock sales by Alphabet directors and executives appear routine and are not large enough on their own to change the investment thesis. Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock
• Negative Sentiment: A Swedish court ordered Google to pay damages in an antitrust case, reinforcing legal risk around its shopping and search practices. Swedish court orders Google pay $1.46 bn for favoring its price comparisons
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulators are moving against app-store fees and payment restrictions, which could pressure Google’s app platform economics. UK targets Apple, Google app store fees for developers

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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