Bessemer Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its Alphabet stake by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,024 shares and ending with 984,342 shares valued at about $308.1 million.
• Several other major investors made large moves in Alphabet, including Berkshire Hathaway taking a new position and Vanguard, Capital World Investors, and Capital Research Global Investors adding to their holdings. Institutional investors and hedge funds now own about 40.03% of Alphabet.
• Alphabet reported strong results and is increasing its dividend: quarterly EPS of $5.11 topped estimates, revenue came in at $109.9 billion, and the company raised its quarterly payout to $0.22 per share. Despite recent insider sales and a 3.9% stock drop, analysts still view the stock favorably with a Moderate Buy rating.

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 984,342 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 8,024 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $308,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $4,338,397,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,333,076,000 after acquiring an additional 6,874,381 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Cayman LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 23,402.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 6,118,547 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,487,419,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092,513 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $361.85 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.00 and a 52 week high of $408.61. The company's 50 day moving average is $347.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $325.75. The company has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. New Street Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.04.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s $10 billion investment signals strong outside confidence in Alphabet’s AI and cloud strategy. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion for AI goals, Berkshire to invest $10 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to argue that Alphabet remains a high-margin cash generator with attractive long-term earnings power. Google: AI Skeptics Proven Wrong as Business Booms
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of Alphabet’s expanding AI coding, hardware, and device strategy highlights broader growth opportunities, but it is not the main driver of today’s move. Microsoft and Google are late to AI coding, but 'absolutely critical' they compete for growth
• Negative Sentiment: The proposed $80 billion stock sale raises dilution concerns and underscores how expensive Alphabet’s AI race has become. Exclusive: EU cloud rules to curb Amazon, Google access to strategic tenders, draft document shows
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that EU cloud rules could restrict Google’s access to strategic government tenders add a regulatory overhang for the cloud business. Alphabet to raise $80 billion in equity capital for AI spending

Alphabet 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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