Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by SFE Investment Counsel

Key Points

• SFE Investment Counsel reduced its Alphabet stake by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 9,070 shares and leaving it with 47,283 shares valued at about $14.8 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, posting $5.11 EPS versus the $2.64 estimate and revenue of $109.9 billion, both above expectations. Analysts still see more upside, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.33.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21, implying a $0.88 annualized payout and a 0.2% yield. The article also notes ongoing investor focus on Alphabet’s AI spending plans and potential regulatory pressure on its cloud business.

SFE Investment Counsel lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,283 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 9,070 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.3% of SFE Investment Counsel's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. SFE Investment Counsel's holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $416,217,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $277,696,000 after purchasing an additional 93,293 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,241 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 72,608 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,740 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,666,577 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $405,131,000 after acquiring an additional 60,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

GOOGL opened at $376.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.00 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $347.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $325.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s $10 billion commitment gives Alphabet a high-profile endorsement and suggests long-term confidence in the company’s AI and cloud strategy. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion for AI goals, Berkshire to invest $10 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s ownership stakes in major private AI companies like SpaceX and Anthropic could provide hidden upside if those firms eventually go public. Alphabet Stock Offers Exposure To SpaceX, Anthropic Before IPOs: What That Means For Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of Alphabet’s expanding AI coding, hardware, and consumer-device strategy underscores the company’s push to compete more aggressively, but it does not appear to be the immediate stock-moving catalyst today. Microsoft and Google are late to AI coding, but 'absolutely critical' they compete for growth
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s proposed $80 billion capital raise is raising dilution concerns and signaling much heavier near-term AI capex, which is pressuring the shares. Exclusive: EU cloud rules to curb Amazon, Google access to strategic tenders, draft document shows
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that EU cloud rules could restrict Google’s access to strategic government tenders add another regulatory overhang for the company’s cloud business. Alphabet to raise $80 billion in equity capital for AI spending

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial set a $430.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $390.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,132,701. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 225,516 shares of company stock worth $27,142,399 in the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Alphabet

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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