Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Takes $15.69 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management opened a new position in Alphabet, buying 50,000 shares worth about $15.69 million in the fourth quarter.
• Alphabet’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $5.11 on $109.9 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 21.8% year over year.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock, with a consensus Buy rating and a target price of $372.65, even as antitrust and other execution risks remain in focus.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 50,000 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $15,690,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its stake in Alphabet by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1,438.5% in the 4th quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 200 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optima Capital LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Truist Financial set a $385.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $348.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $372.65.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $379.38 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.25. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.33 and a 1-year high of $404.47. The business has a 50-day moving average of $335.54 and a 200 day moving average of $321.07. 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:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 6.41%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary says Alphabet was one of the biggest winners among the Mag 7 this earnings season, helped by accelerating Google Cloud sales and broader AI-driven strength. Alphabet and NVIDIA: The Biggest Mag 7 Winners This Earnings Season
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted Alphabet’s new AI ad formats and shopping tools as potential catalysts for stronger search monetization, higher conversion rates, and increased ad spending. Alphabet's new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet also announced a large $15 billion data center and AI infrastructure investment in Missouri, reinforcing investor confidence in its cloud and AI buildout. Google Deepens Missouri Roots with New Data Center, Energy, and Community Investments
• Neutral Sentiment: Google unveiled new AI search and agent features at I/O, which could improve engagement over time, but the rollout also raised concerns about complexity and possible disruption to the traditional search experience. You can no longer Google the word ‘disregard’
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo temporarily paused some robotaxi and freeway services after safety issues in flooded roads and construction zones; while this is not core to Alphabet’s profits, it adds execution risk and negative headlines. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet has appealed the U.S. search-monopoly ruling, keeping antitrust overhang and potential remedies in focus for investors. Google appeals US court ruling on search monopoly

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total value of $284,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,955,564. This trade represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc NASDAQ: GOOG is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as "Other Bets." Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company's history.

Alphabet's core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company's ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

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