Baer Investment Advisory LLC Takes $2.90 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Baer Investment Advisory LLC disclosed a new first-quarter position in Alphabet, buying 10,116 shares valued at about $2.9 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive, with multiple analysts raising price targets and Alphabet holding an average “Buy” rating and consensus target of $376.19.
• Alphabet recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $5.11 EPS on $109.9 billion in revenue, while also increasing its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

Baer Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,116 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,902,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its position 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 buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment 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, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $376.19.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is looking for another strong earnings report from Alphabet, with AI and Google Cloud expected to keep driving growth ahead of the company’s upcoming results. Alphabet Q2 Earnings Preview: What To Expect From Upcoming Report
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google unit joined a €411 million funding round for Proxima Fusion, reinforcing its interest in frontier energy and other long-duration AI-adjacent opportunities. Google, RWE back Proxima Fusion in €411 million financing round
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Alphabet as a potential “forever holding” for Berkshire-style investors may be helping reinforce the stock’s long-term AI and cash-flow appeal. Prediction: This Magnificent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Will Become Berkshire's Next Forever Holding
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet announced that its Made by Google Pixel event will be held on August 12, which could build anticipation for new hardware updates but is not a major fundamental catalyst by itself. Google's Pixel event is set for August 12
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary comparing Alphabet with Palantir and Taiwan Semiconductor keeps Alphabet in the center of AI-stock debates, but these are mostly valuation and relative-performance discussions rather than direct business news. Palantir Vs. Google: Why Palantir is Surging in July and Should Investors Buy it Over Google?
• Negative Sentiment: TechCrunch reported that Google is expanding AI training to include more user-uploaded media, which could raise fresh privacy concerns and fuel scrutiny over how customer data is used. If you use Google, you're training its AI. Here's how to opt out.
• Negative Sentiment: Business Insider noted that Google’s status as a top tech employer is becoming less certain as AI-linked salary competition pushes some talent elsewhere, which could add pressure to retention. Google's status as the dream tech job is changing. FOMO over AI salaries is only one reason why.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $363.62 on Wednesday. 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 52-week low of $173.88 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The company's 50 day moving average price is $369.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $334.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm's revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.81 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - 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.