Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by World Investment Advisors

Key Points

• World Investment Advisors trimmed its Alphabet stake by 1.5% in the first quarter, but still held 270,534 shares worth about $77.8 million. Alphabet remains its 8th-largest holding and about 1.3% of the portfolio.
• Alphabet continues to draw bullish analyst coverage, with KeyCorp lifting its price target to $445 and the Street’s consensus rating sitting at Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $413.92.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $5.11 on revenue of $109.9 billion, both ahead of expectations. Alphabet also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21.

World Investment Advisors decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 270,534 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,227 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.3% of World Investment Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Alphabet were worth $77,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its price target on Alphabet to $445 from $425 and kept an overweight rating, reinforcing the view that the stock still has meaningful upside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple upbeat articles highlighted Alphabet as a leading AI and cloud beneficiary, with commentary pointing to strong distribution through Search, Android, YouTube, Google Cloud, and chips as reasons it could monetize AI better than peers.
• Positive Sentiment: New coverage argued Alphabet looks undervalued after a big run over the past year, while other pieces said the company remains one of the most attractive megacap tech names on a risk/reward basis.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and other market commentators continued to include GOOGL among cloud and internet stocks positioned to benefit from AI-driven data center spending and digital demand growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Business and tech commentary also pointed to product and platform strengths, including Google Search setting records during the World Cup and Waymo planning more driverless-car expansion, which support the long-term growth narrative.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet said it will begin disclosing which ads are generated with AI, a transparency move that may help trust and compliance but is unlikely to materially change near-term earnings.
• Neutral Sentiment: Britain moved to regulate Google as a critical cloud supplier to protect financial stability; the change adds oversight, but it also underscores the importance of Google Cloud rather than signaling a fundamental business setback.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reported that Google is appealing an Indian ads-related trademark ruling, a legal issue that could create some noise but does not yet appear to be a major stock-moving event.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent short-interest data was effectively flat at zero shares reported, offering little actionable signal for traders.
• Negative Sentiment: One Reuters-linked report said Google and OpenAI provided AI services to Singapore-based subsidiaries of Chinese groups on the Pentagon blacklist, which could raise regulatory scrutiny and geopolitical concerns.
• Negative Sentiment: Technical commentary noted Alphabet is testing a key resistance zone after a recovery, suggesting the stock may need a fresh catalyst to extend its move higher.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HSBC restated a "buy" rating and set a $420.00 price objective (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $393.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $413.92.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $1.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $357.18. 18,122,822 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,870,564. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $176.48 and a one year high of $408.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $372.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $336.44. The company has a market cap of $4.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is an increase 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 is currently 6.71%.

Alphabet Company 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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