Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Has $208.16 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners trimmed its Alphabet stake by 7.1% in the first quarter, selling 54,957 shares and retaining 723,866 shares valued at approximately $208.16 million. Alphabet remains Epoch’s ninth-largest holding and represents about 1.3% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet shares were trading up 4.9% at $373.51, while the company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with $9.11 in EPS versus a $2.89 consensus estimate and $119.8 billion in revenue. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $419.86.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, equivalent to $0.88 annually and a 0.2% yield, with payment scheduled for September 14 to shareholders of record as of September 7.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 723,866 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 54,957 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.3% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $208,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co increased its holdings in Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 4.9%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $373.51 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $357.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $339.62. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.12 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The company has a market capitalization of $4.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Evercore increased their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $465.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $419.86.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings and analyst support: Alphabet’s latest results significantly exceeded consensus expectations, reinforcing confidence in accelerating revenue and profit growth. Multiple reports describe the stock as undervalued or a favorable growth investment, while analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating. Alphabet Stock is Climbing: What's Going On Today?
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure positioning: Commentary argues Alphabet is better equipped than many peers to absorb the cost of Nvidia chips while benefiting from expanding AI demand. Investors also see Google Search, cloud services, and AI infrastructure as complementary growth engines. Berkshire Hathaway’s reported investment in Alphabet adds to the bullish narrative. The Nvidia Tax: Alphabet Mitigates It Better
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo validation: An analysis reported that Alphabet’s Waymo robotaxis crash substantially less often than human-driven vehicles. While Waymo is not yet a major earnings contributor, the finding supports Alphabet’s long-term autonomous-driving and technology portfolio. Waymo robotaxis found to crash 68% less often
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial AI momentum: Google’s partnership with Paris Saint-Germain and participation in upcoming White House AI-regulation discussions highlight expanding enterprise and institutional interest in its AI capabilities. Paris Saint-Germain partners with Google on AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s lead in cloud market share remains a competitive concern, although Alphabet’s Google Cloud continues to grow and benefits from the same AI spending cycle. Microsoft Races Ahead of Google in the Cloud
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are weighing whether heavy AI capital expenditures will temporarily pressure margins or create durable long-term returns.
• Negative Sentiment: A Google Earth tool reportedly made it possible to create AI-generated fake satellite imagery, raising questions about safeguards, misinformation, and potential regulatory scrutiny. For a Day, Google Made It Easy to Spoof Satellite Imagery

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 600,547 shares of company stock worth $16,255,540 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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.

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