Cullinan Associates Inc. Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Cullinan Associates Inc. cut its Alphabet stake by 18.1% in the first quarter, selling 22,974 shares and leaving it with 103,754 shares worth about $29.8 million.
• Several large institutional investors still hold significant positions in Alphabet, and institutions as a group own 40.03% of the company’s stock.
• Alphabet continues to attract bullish analyst coverage, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $414.54, while recent news highlights new AI chip and Gemini model developments ahead of earnings.

Cullinan Associates Inc. trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 18.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 103,754 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 22,974 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.4% of Cullinan Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Cullinan Associates Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $29,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $45,625,595,000 after buying an additional 2,666,676 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Alphabet by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $21,630,861,000 after acquiring an additional 3,218,852 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the 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 sale, the director 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $400.00 target price (down from $410.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Dbs Bank upped their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $414.54.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reportedly developed a new AI server chip, “Frozen v2,” to make Gemini run more efficiently, which could improve margins and help ease compute constraints for Google Cloud. Reuters: Google plans new chip to run Gemini models more efficiently
• Positive Sentiment: Google released new Gemini models, including cheaper and more efficient versions, signaling continued AI product momentum ahead of earnings. TechCrunch: Google releases three new Gemini models
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain constructive on Alphabet going into Q2 results, with expectations that Search and Google Cloud can still deliver strong growth. Yahoo Finance: Alphabet Q2 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s earnings report on Wednesday is expected to be a major market test for AI spending, cloud growth, and capital expenditure discipline. Invezz: What to expect from Alphabet's Q2 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also facing a cluster of securities-fraud investigation headlines, though these are largely legal overhangs at this stage rather than new operational news. PR Newswire: Securities fraud investigation continues
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that a flagship Gemini model remains delayed, adding to investor worries that heavy AI spending may not translate into results quickly enough. Reuters: Alphabet's Gemini delay, spending worries loom over earnings

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $347.15 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $367.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $338.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.46 and a 52 week high of $408.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost 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 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 6.71%.

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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