E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. Boosts Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• E Fund Management Hong Kong boosted its Alphabet stake by 37.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 3,546 additional shares and bringing its total to 12,937 shares worth about $4.45 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.11 beating estimates and revenue of $109.9 billion topping expectations. Analysts now expect the company to post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21, while Wall Street remains broadly positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.33.

E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 37.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,937 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,546 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.9% of E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co lifted its stake in Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

Alphabet stock opened at $376.37 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The stock's fifty day moving average is $347.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $325.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.22 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 225,516 shares of company stock valued at $27,142,399. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s $10 billion commitment gives Alphabet a high-profile endorsement and suggests long-term confidence in the company’s AI and cloud strategy. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion for AI goals, Berkshire to invest $10 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s ownership stakes in major private AI companies like SpaceX and Anthropic could provide hidden upside if those firms eventually go public. Alphabet Stock Offers Exposure To SpaceX, Anthropic Before IPOs: What That Means For Investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of Alphabet’s expanding AI coding, hardware, and consumer-device strategy underscores the company’s push to compete more aggressively, but it does not appear to be the immediate stock-moving catalyst today. Microsoft and Google are late to AI coding, but 'absolutely critical' they compete for growth
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s proposed $80 billion capital raise is raising dilution concerns and signaling much heavier near-term AI capex, which is pressuring the shares. Exclusive: EU cloud rules to curb Amazon, Google access to strategic tenders, draft document shows
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that EU cloud rules could restrict Google’s access to strategic government tenders add another regulatory overhang for the company’s cloud business. Alphabet to raise $80 billion in equity capital for AI spending

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.33.

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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