BIP Wealth LLC Trims Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• BIP Wealth LLC reduced its Alphabet stake by 20.9% in the first quarter, selling 3,116 shares and ending with 11,813 shares valued at about $3.39 million.
• Insider selling has been notable: over the last 90 days, insiders sold 160,465 shares worth about $8.0 million, including a recent sale by director John L. Hennessy.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on GOOG, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $376.19, while recent earnings beat expectations on both EPS and revenue.

BIP Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 20.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,813 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,116 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ring Mountain Capital LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Financial Enhancement Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certior Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC now owns 919 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business'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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. 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. Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $470.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $376.19.

Alphabet News Roundup

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.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $363.62 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $369.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $334.35. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $173.88 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The company has a market cap of $4.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.81 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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