Ardsley Advisory Partners LP Sells 91,000 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Ardsley Advisory Partners cut its Alphabet stake by 61.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 91,000 shares and reducing its holdings to 57,000 shares valued at about $17.9 million.
• Alphabet continues to draw mixed news: the UK’s competition watchdog imposed new Google Search requirements, while analysts remain wary of high AI spending, capex, competition, and valuation.
• Fundamentals remain strong, with Alphabet posting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, while also increasing its dividend to $0.22 per share and expanding AI infrastructure and cloud partnerships.

Ardsley Advisory Partners LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 61.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 91,000 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 2.0% of Ardsley Advisory Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Ardsley Advisory Partners LP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 850.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,551,938,000 after acquiring an additional 15,830,754 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after acquiring an additional 8,128,234 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 8.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after acquiring an additional 7,904,434 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Britain’s competition watchdog set new requirements for Google Search, demanding greater transparency in ranking results and fairer treatment for businesses, adding to global regulatory scrutiny that could pressure Alphabet’s core search business. UK regulator sets out conduct requirements for Google's search services
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains cautious, with concerns about Alphabet’s high AI spending, heavy capital expenditures, competition, and valuation limiting enthusiasm despite strong growth prospects. AI Spending Is Strengthening the Alphabet (GOOGL) Bull Case
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet showcased more AI momentum at the G7, where Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis backed a U.S.-led AI coalition, reinforcing the company’s influence in frontier AI policy and investment discussions. CEOs of Anthropic and Google DeepMind call for U.S.-led AI coalition in meeting at G7
• Neutral Sentiment: Google also launched Android 17 and a new Gemini-focused smart speaker, highlighting ongoing product innovation that could support long-term ecosystem growth but is not an immediate earnings catalyst. Google bets on Gemini to reinvent the smart home speaker
• Positive Sentiment: HSBC expanded its partnership with Google Cloud to grow AI usage, a sign that Alphabet’s cloud and enterprise AI business continues to gain traction with major customers. HSBC partners with Google Cloud to expand AI usage
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is also expanding its physical and digital footprint, including a $1.5 billion Alabama data center investment and new Google-supported initiatives, which support the company’s AI infrastructure buildout. Alphabet (GOOGL) to Spend $1.5 Billion Expanding Alabama Data Center

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $362.10 on Thursday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $361.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $330.47. The company has a market cap of $4.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.22. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.33 and a 12-month high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 159,466 shares of company stock worth $6,957,543 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $470.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Freedom Capital lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $376.78.

About Alphabet

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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