Cresta Advisors Ltd. Sells 2,129 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Cresta Advisors Ltd. reduced its Alphabet stake by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,129 shares and leaving it with 8,983 shares valued at about $2.81 million.
• Alphabet reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $5.11 beating estimates by a wide margin and revenue of $109.9 billion topping expectations. Analysts still expect continued strength, with full-year EPS projected at 14.29.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21, though the yield remains low at about 0.2%. Meanwhile, Alphabet continues to draw bullish analyst coverage, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

Cresta Advisors Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,983 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,129 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.2% of Cresta Advisors Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Cresta Advisors Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $165,567,398,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,910,542,000 after buying an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.7% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,333,076,000 after buying an additional 6,874,381 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,186,112 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,984,744,000 after buying an additional 1,034,292 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $382.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $337.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $321.26. The company has a market cap of $4.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.21, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.00 and a 12-month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Q1 results were highlighted as one of the strongest among the Mag 7, with Google Cloud showing accelerating sales growth and broader AI momentum helping investor sentiment. Alphabet and NVIDIA: The Biggest Mag 7 Winners This Earnings Season
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s I/O announcements continued to reinforce Alphabet’s AI story, including new AI search experiences, agent tools, and upcoming AI glasses that suggest the company is expanding beyond traditional search. We tried Google's AI glasses and they're almost there
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with multiple firms reiterating positive views and new AI ad formats seen as potentially boosting conversions and monetization in Search and Commerce. Alphabet's new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled a $15 billion Missouri data center investment, underscoring continued capital spending to support AI infrastructure and cloud demand. Google Unveils $15 Billion Missouri Data Center Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles discussed Google’s revamped AI-driven search experience and agent ecosystem, which are strategically important but still too early to measure their near-term financial impact. Google is pitching an AI agent ecosystem to consumers who may not buy it
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo temporarily suspended service in multiple cities after robotaxis drove into flooded roads, adding another safety and execution concern for Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s appeal of the antitrust ruling remains the biggest overhang, since a loss or forced remedies could eventually weigh on the company’s core search and advertising economics. Google appeals US court ruling on search monopoly

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $412.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,187,638.65. The trade was a 22.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total transaction of $9,859,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,674,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $508,028,012.80. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Alphabet

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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