Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Reduces Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Catalyst Funds Management cut its Alphabet stake by 62.6% in Q4, selling 19,400 shares and leaving it with 11,600 shares worth about $3.63 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.11 and revenue of $109.9 billion, both above analyst expectations. The company also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.21 to $0.22 per share.
• Sentiment around Alphabet remains mixed: analysts have generally raised price targets or kept bullish ratings, while the company faces ongoing scrutiny over AI-related spending, product quality, and UK regulatory pressure.

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 62.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,600 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 19,400 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.8% of Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet secured a major cloud deal with SpaceX, adding a high-profile customer and boosting the investment case for its AI infrastructure business. SpaceX signs cloud deal with Google
• Positive Sentiment: New Street Research raised its price target on Alphabet to $455 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports said Google’s AI search and chatbot products faced criticism after an audit found many chatbot responses on elections were flawed, which may keep pressure on Alphabet’s AI credibility. Over 90% of AI chatbot answers about midterm elections are flawed, stunning analysis shows
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s large equity raise and higher AI capex guidance are still weighing on sentiment because investors are questioning how quickly those investments will pay off. Alphabet is seeking fresh capital as stock's 4-week losing streak tests investor appetite
• Negative Sentiment: Google also faces regulatory pressure in the UK over publisher-content rules in AI search, adding another policy risk for the business. Google search facing UK 'conduct requirement'

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's 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 trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $368.53 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.00 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. The company's 50 day moving average is $352.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $327.81. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and issued a $460.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, New Street Research increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $413.13.

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.

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