Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Riverstone Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Riverstone Advisors LLC reduced its Alphabet stake by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 7,152 shares and leaving it with 81,467 shares valued at about $25.5 million. Alphabet remains Riverstone’s second-largest holding, making up 12.0% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.11 beating estimates by $2.47 and revenue of $109.90 billion topping expectations. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21.
• AI momentum remains a major theme for Alphabet, with Google I/O highlighting new AI products and a reported $5 billion joint venture with Blackstone to build AI cloud infrastructure. Analysts have responded positively, with several raising price targets and the consensus rating sitting at “Moderate Buy.”

Riverstone Advisors LLC cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,467 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,152 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 12.0% of Riverstone Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Riverstone Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,388 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,190,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Sandro Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,650,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 830,123 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $259,828,000 after purchasing an additional 60,662 shares during the period. Objectivity Squared LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 1,101 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Forza Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,040 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,395,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $388.91 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.00 and a 1-year high of $408.61. The company has a market capitalization of $4.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.67, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $334.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $320.07. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google I/O showcase highlighted a broad AI push across Search, Gemini, Workspace, shopping, coding, and video tools, reinforcing expectations that Google can monetize AI rather than just defend against competitors. Google debuts new AI models, personal AI agents in effort to keep pace with OpenAI and Anthropic
• Positive Sentiment: Google and Blackstone announced a $5 billion joint venture to build AI cloud infrastructure powered by Google’s TPU chips, which could expand demand for Alphabet’s custom silicon and strengthen its enterprise AI ecosystem. Google, Blackstone to create new AI cloud company, WSJ reports
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analysts turned more constructive after I/O, with firms including BofA, KeyCorp, Citizens JMP, Needham, and others reiterating or raising targets, signaling confidence that Alphabet’s AI strategy is gaining traction. Alphabet analyst forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet said Gemini now has 900 million monthly users and AI Overviews has 2.5 billion monthly users, showing that its AI products are already operating at significant scale. Google kicks off I/O conference with AI upgrades for coders, consumers
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet also introduced new AI-powered search and shopping features, including agentic tools and a universal cart, which could open additional monetization opportunities. Google's new Universal Cart wants to follow you across the entire internet
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider and shareholder sales were disclosed, including a director sale and a larger shareholder sale, but these appear to be routine filings rather than a clear signal of changing fundamentals. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Ofcom said YouTube and TikTok have not done enough to protect British children from harmful content, adding another layer of regulatory scrutiny for Alphabet’s YouTube business. TikTok, YouTube lag on UK child safety as rivals act, regulator says
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors worry that Google’s AI-heavy search redesign could pressure its core ad model by reducing reliance on the traditional “ten blue links” format. Google Search as you know it is over

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 target price (up from $360.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. New Street Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Evercore lifted their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $412.65.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total value of $9,859,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,674,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $508,028,012.80. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061 in the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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