Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Northeast Investment Management

Key Points

• Northeast Investment Management trimmed its Alphabet stake by 2.1%, selling 10,115 shares in the third quarter. It still held 473,993 shares worth about $163.1 million, making Alphabet its third-largest position.
• Analyst sentiment remained broadly positive: 50 analysts rated the stock Buy or Strong Buy, versus five Holds, with an average price target of $412.51.
• Alphabet reported quarterly EPS of $2.12, below the $3.02 consensus estimate, while revenue of $127.58 billion also fell slightly short of expectations.

Northeast Investment Management decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 473,993 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 10,115 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 5.8% of Northeast Investment Management's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Northeast Investment Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $163,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 238,977,259 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $85,403,303,000 after buying an additional 12,718,127 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 33,203,350 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,865,809,000 after buying an additional 1,457,371 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,724,321 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,334,186,000 after buying an additional 1,631,721 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 17,079,800 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,911,467,000 after buying an additional 1,139,400 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 90.9% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,040,373 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,900,078,000 after buying an additional 8,112,680 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. Yorkville Ives assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 target price (down from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $480.00 price target (up from $465.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, UBS Group set a $332.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $412.51.

Alphabet News Roundup

These are some of the GOOGL news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s reported departure has put a spotlight on alternatives to Nvidia. Alphabet’s expanding TPU business could help it compete for AI workloads and gain market share, while its Google Cloud infrastructure also uses AMD processors. Why Alphabet Stock Was Moving Higher Today
• Positive Sentiment: An economist cited Alphabet’s search distribution, advertising business and ability to generate cash as reasons it may be well-positioned despite the AI sell-off. The view supports the case that established customer reach can help the company monetize AI. Is It Too Late to Buy the Dip? 3 Corners of the Market Still Offering Real Value
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavy AI data-center spending could weigh on cash flow, even as the underlying cloud and advertising businesses remain attractive. This could limit near-term enthusiasm if returns on the investment take time to materialize. Alphabet: Punished For Its Cash Flow, Not Its Business

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 247 shares of company stock worth $79,238. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $298.70 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $270.70 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $329.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $338.21. The company has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 15.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by ($0.90). The business had revenue of $127.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 43.33% and a net margin of 50.03%. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 4.59%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. is a technology holding company whose largest business is Google. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google became part of Alphabet when the company reorganized its businesses under the holding-company structure in 2015. Google's products and services include Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Cloud. The company also generates revenue from digital advertising and offers devices, subscriptions and artificial intelligence products and services.

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