Baron Wealth Management LLC Purchases 4,091 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Baron Wealth Management increased its Alphabet stake by 87.5% in Q1, buying 4,091 additional shares and bringing its total to 8,769 shares worth about $2.5 million.
• Alphabet continues to face AI-related concerns, including reports that key researchers are leaving for competitors and worries that aggressive AI spending could pressure free cash flow and dilute shareholders.
• Despite the negative sentiment, Alphabet’s recent fundamentals remain strong: it beat expectations on both earnings and revenue last quarter, and analysts overall still rate the stock a Buy with an average price target of $376.78.

Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 87.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,769 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,091 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.8% of Baron Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Baron Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its stake in Alphabet by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Key AI researchers have left Alphabet for competitors, intensifying worries that the company is losing critical talent needed to lead in generative AI. Reuters: Google DeepMind signs AI research deal with film studio A24
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also worried that Alphabet’s aggressive AI spending plans, including a large equity raise to fund infrastructure and compute, could dilute shareholders and pressure free cash flow. Quiver Quantitative: Alphabet Slides as AI Funding Plan Fuels Dilution Worries
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also announced a $75 million AI research partnership with A24, showing it is still investing in new AI use cases, but this was overshadowed by the talent-loss narrative. TechCrunch: Google DeepMind bets $75M on AI's future in Hollywood with A24 deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain strong, with Alphabet’s latest quarter beating expectations on both earnings and revenue, which helps offset some of the negative sentiment. Alphabet stock page

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $435.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Five 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $376.78.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,132,701. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 160,516 shares of company stock worth $7,344,604 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $348.78 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $4.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $364.96 and a 200-day moving average of $331.41. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

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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