General Pension Society PZU Joint Stock Co Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• General Pension Society PZU Joint Stock Co cut its Alphabet stake by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 13,000 shares and leaving it with 126,200 shares worth about $39.6 million. Alphabet remains a major holding, representing roughly 8% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Alphabet’s latest quarter came in well above expectations, with EPS of $5.11 versus the $2.68 estimate and revenue of $109.9 billion, up 21.8% year over year. Analysts now broadly rate the stock a Buy, with a consensus target price of $376.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21, while recent insider sales and news about a planned $80 billion stock offering have kept some pressure on sentiment despite strong operating performance.

General Pension Society PZU Joint Stock Co lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,200 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,000 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 8.0% of General Pension Society PZU Joint Stock Co's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. General Pension Society PZU Joint Stock Co's holdings in Alphabet were worth $39,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 29.0% in the third quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 258 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $435.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $376.00.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $358.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $344.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $325.11. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.34, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.33 and a 1-year high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. 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 is presently 6.41%.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s $10 billion commitment to Alphabet supports the company’s AI strategy and signals strong long-term investor confidence. Berkshire invests extra $10 billion in Alphabet, deepening bet on AI
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts say Google remains a key beneficiary of AI search growth, suggesting its core search and ad business may hold up better than feared. Google Is the Clear Beneficiary,’ Says Top Analyst as AI Search Takes Off
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s stakes in private AI-related companies such as Anthropic and exposure to future IPO optionality may add long-term upside, but this is not a near-term catalyst. Alphabet Stock Offers Exposure To SpaceX, Anthropic Before IPOs
• Negative Sentiment: The $80 billion stock sale raised concerns about dilution and the rising cost of Alphabet’s AI expansion, which is pressuring sentiment in the stock. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion to pay for AI buildout
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported the EU may tighten cloud rules in strategic tenders, which could limit Google’s access to certain government contracts in Europe. EU cloud rules to curb Amazon, Google access to strategic tenders

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was 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 directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc NASDAQ: GOOG is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as "Other Bets." Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company's history.

Alphabet's core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company's ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

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