Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by waypoint wealth counsel

Key Points

• Waypoint Wealth Counsel reduced its Alphabet stake by 19% in the first quarter, selling 1,627 shares and ending with 6,916 shares valued at about $1.99 million. Alphabet remains its 13th-largest holding and about 1% of the portfolio.
• Insiders have also been selling shares, including Director Frances Arnold and CAO Marsida Saraci, with the company saying insiders sold 160,465 shares worth about $8.0 million over the last 90 days.
• Alphabet’s business and stock remain strong, with the company recently beating earnings estimates and analysts keeping a “Moderate Buy” consensus while lifting price targets; shares were also up 1.4% in Tuesday trading.

waypoint wealth counsel lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 19.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,916 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,627 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.0% of waypoint wealth counsel's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. waypoint wealth counsel's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Symmetry Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Members Trust Co raised its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,489,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are highlighting Alphabet as a top AI stock, with billionaire Jeffrey Talpins reportedly naming it a preferred AI idea, reinforcing confidence in the company’s long-term AI upside. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Is A Top AI Stock To Buy According To Billionaire Jeffrey Talpins
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud is being touted as a major growth engine, with commentary suggesting it may be “driving the train” for Alphabet thanks to strong cloud momentum and a large backlog, which supports the bull case for revenue and margin expansion. Is Google Cloud Officially Driving the Train?
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was featured as a “final trade” on CNBC, and several bullish pieces point to continued investor interest in the stock after strong gains over the past year. Netflix, Alphabet, Nike And A Consumer Defensive Stock On CNBC's ‘Final Trades'
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles noting Alphabet’s strong stock performance and asking whether it is too late to buy may keep the stock in focus, but they mainly reflect momentum rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Down Over 10% From Its All-Time High, Is Now the Perfect Time to Buy Alphabet Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure remains a drag after Europe’s final €4.1 billion Android antitrust ruling, which adds to legal risk around Alphabet’s mobile and search ecosystem. Alphabet (GOOGL) Faces Final €4.1b Android Antitrust Ruling In Europe
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy-related reporting that Google is expanding AI training using user-uploaded media could raise user trust and regulatory concerns, even if it also supports AI model development. If you use Google, you're training its AI. Here's how to opt out.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $5.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $371.61. 4,065,557 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,626,334. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $172.77 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The stock's fifty day moving average is $371.05 and its 200 day moving average is $334.60.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and set a $460.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.54.

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.