Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 5,323 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Hartford Investment Management Co. trimmed its Alphabet stake by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,323 shares and ending with 268,661 shares worth about $84.3 million. Alphabet remains one of the firm’s largest holdings, representing roughly 2.5% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet’s recent earnings beat expectations, posting $5.11 EPS versus the $2.68 consensus and revenue of $109.9 billion, up 21.8% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on GOOG, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $372.65, though insider selling and some Waymo/regulatory issues are adding short-term headline risk.

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 268,661 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,323 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 2.5% of Hartford Investment Management Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Hartford Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $84,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its holdings in Alphabet by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1,438.5% during the 4th quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 200 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optima Capital LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google I/O 2026 highlighted new AI products, smarter Search, Gemini upgrades, AI ad tools, and agentic features that could boost Alphabet’s monetization across ads, cloud, and consumer services.
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America, UBS and other analysts reiterated bullish views after the AI showcase, reinforcing confidence that Alphabet can turn AI adoption into revenue growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s new financing and infrastructure moves, including the yen note sale and Missouri data-center investment, support long-term AI capacity expansion.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet continues to receive mixed commentary around valuation and market expectations after a sharp rally, which may limit near-term upside.
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo suspended freeway robotaxi rides and paused Atlanta operations while fixing safety issues in construction zones and flooded roads, creating headline risk for Alphabet.
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh insider selling by a director and additional regulatory/labor complaints in Europe add some short-term pressure and sentiment risk.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on GOOG shares. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $348.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 12th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. DZ Bank raised Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $372.65.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $383.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a 50 day moving average of $334.12 and a 200-day moving average of $320.40. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.33 and a 12-month high of $404.47.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

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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