Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Key Points

• Meritage Portfolio Management trimmed its Alphabet stake by 1.9% in Q4, selling 5,627 shares; it now owns 283,124 shares worth $88.62 million, with Alphabet representing 5.9% of the firm's holdings and its second-largest position.
• Alphabet reported a blockbuster Q1 (EPS $5.11 vs. $2.64 expected; revenue $109.9B) and has attracted analyst price-target upgrades while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22, supporting positive investor sentiment.
• Insider selling has been notable, with 158,553 shares sold in the last 90 days (~$48M), even as institutional ownership sits around 40.03%.

Meritage Portfolio Management reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 283,124 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,627 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 5.9% of Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $88,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $63,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Huge Q1 beat and cash generation — Alphabet reported blockbuster Q1 results and large net income, highlighting strong Search and AI-driven revenue that underpins recent multiple expansion and investor confidence. It Takes Meta Almost 9 Minutes...
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades lift sentiment — Mizuho raised its price target to $460 (outperform) and other shops have pushed targets higher, reinforcing buy-side momentum after the earnings beat. Alphabet Given New $460.00 Price Target at Mizuho
• Positive Sentiment: New consumer products and recurring revenue — Google rebranded Fitbit to Google Health, launched a $9.99/month AI health coach (May 19) and unveiled the Fitbit Air wearable; subscription services could add predictable ARPU. Google's $9.99-per-month AI health coach...
• Positive Sentiment: Market leadership narrative — Coverage notes Alphabet closing the gap on Nvidia for the world's largest market cap, a bullish signal that may attract momentum and index flows. Alphabet Is About to Overtake Nvidia...
• Neutral Sentiment: Hiring and process changes — Google is piloting AI-assisted software-engineer interviews and exploring personal AI agents (Remy), which could improve hiring throughput but raise operational and fairness questions. Google plans to let software engineers...
• Neutral Sentiment: R&D and partnerships — DeepMind has taken a minority stake to train models on the EVE Online environment and Google continues investing in personal AI agents; long-term upside but near-term costs remain. Google DeepMind Will Train AI Models...
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk in EU news case — Google proposed changes to search news displays to avoid further EU fines, highlighting ongoing exposure to large competition penalties that could hit earnings or require product changes. Google moves to avert EU fines...
• Negative Sentiment: UK display-ads legal claim — A £3bn collective claim alleging monopolization of display ads introduces another material legal overhang that could pressure valuation until resolved. Google facing £3bn legal claim...

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $397.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $318.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $311.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $152.20 and a 1-year high of $400.10. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.41%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total value of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,955,564. The trade was a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $406.71.

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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