Capital Investment Counsel LLC Has $15.93 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Capital Investment Counsel LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,394 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,705 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.2% of Capital Investment Counsel LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Capital Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. EMC Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. CICC Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Phillip Securities lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $413.54.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are highlighting Alphabet as a top AI stock, with billionaire Jeffrey Talpins reportedly naming it a preferred AI idea, reinforcing confidence in the company’s long-term AI upside. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Is A Top AI Stock To Buy According To Billionaire Jeffrey Talpins
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud is being touted as a major growth engine, with commentary suggesting it may be “driving the train” for Alphabet thanks to strong cloud momentum and a large backlog, which supports the bull case for revenue and margin expansion. Is Google Cloud Officially Driving the Train?
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was featured as a “final trade” on CNBC, and several bullish pieces point to continued investor interest in the stock after strong gains over the past year. Netflix, Alphabet, Nike And A Consumer Defensive Stock On CNBC's ‘Final Trades'
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles noting Alphabet’s strong stock performance and asking whether it is too late to buy may keep the stock in focus, but they mainly reflect momentum rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Down Over 10% From Its All-Time High, Is Now the Perfect Time to Buy Alphabet Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure remains a drag after Europe’s final €4.1 billion Android antitrust ruling, which adds to legal risk around Alphabet’s mobile and search ecosystem. Alphabet (GOOGL) Faces Final €4.1b Android Antitrust Ruling In Europe
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy-related reporting that Google is expanding AI training using user-uploaded media could raise user trust and regulatory concerns, even if it also supports AI model development. If you use Google, you're training its AI. Here's how to opt out.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $366.46 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $172.77 and a one year high of $408.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $371.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $334.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for 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%. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis 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 presently 6.71%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Company 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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