Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Opes Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Opes Wealth Management LLC cut its Alphabet stake by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,308 shares and ending with 7,886 shares worth about $2.47 million.
• Alphabet continues to see strong analyst support, with multiple firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $411.23.
• The company reported solid financial results, beating earnings expectations in its latest quarter, and also announced a higher quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share.

Opes Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,886 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,308 shares during the period. Opes Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Symmetry Partners LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Members Trust Co increased its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,489,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, White Wing Wealth Management increased its position in Alphabet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,155 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush upped their price target on Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $411.23.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet and Blackstone announced a $5 billion AI infrastructure joint venture to build TPU-powered cloud capacity, which could deepen demand for Google’s custom chips and expand its AI ecosystem. Google, Blackstone to create new AI cloud company, WSJ reports
• Positive Sentiment: Google I/O showcased a broad AI push across Search, Gemini, Workspace, shopping, and video tools, reinforcing the idea that Alphabet is monetizing AI rather than just defending against rivals. Google debuts new AI models, personal AI agents in effort to keep pace with OpenAI and Anthropic
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with Arete Research lifting its price target to $425 and maintaining a buy rating, signaling continued upside expectations. Arete Research adjusts price target on Alphabet to $425 from $405
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet said Gemini now has 900 million monthly users and AI Overviews has 2.5 billion monthly users, suggesting its AI products are already reaching scale. Google kicks off I/O conference with AI upgrades for coders, consumers
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet disclosed insider sales by a major shareholder, but the transactions appear routine and are not, by themselves, a strong fundamental signal. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors are uneasy that Google’s AI-heavy search redesign could disrupt the company’s core ad model, especially as the “ten blue links” era fades. Google Search as you know it is over
• Negative Sentiment: There is also headline risk from broader scrutiny around platform responsibility and YouTube youth-safety issues, which may keep some investors cautious. Alphabet’s $5 Trillion Milestone: How AI Ambitions Are Fueling Google’s Record Run

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $387.66 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.00 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $333.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $319.32. The firm has a market cap of $4.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Alphabet 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOGL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.