Hartline Investment Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Hartline Investment Corp trimmed its Alphabet position by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,832 shares and leaving it with 133,926 shares valued at about $41.9 million. Alphabet remains Hartline’s 5th largest holding and represents roughly 4.5% of its portfolio.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on GOOGL, with analysts including Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Needham, and China Renaissance reiterating or raising targets. The stock carries a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $413.13.
• Alphabet posted strong quarterly results and raised its dividend, beating earnings and revenue estimates with $5.11 EPS on $109.9 billion in revenue. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.22 from $0.21, though insiders have been selling shares recently.

Hartline Investment Corp lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,926 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,832 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 4.5% of Hartline Investment Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Hartline Investment Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $41,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $416,217,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $277,696,000 after buying an additional 93,293 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,241 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% during the third quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 72,608 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,652,000 after buying an additional 3,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,666,577 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $405,131,000 after acquiring an additional 60,831 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. China Renaissance upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $368.53 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $352.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $327.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.00 and a 12-month high of $408.61.

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 (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet secured a major cloud deal with SpaceX, adding a high-profile customer and boosting the investment case for its AI infrastructure business. SpaceX signs cloud deal with Google
• Positive Sentiment: New Street Research raised its price target on Alphabet to $455 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports said Google’s AI search and chatbot products faced criticism after an audit found many chatbot responses on elections were flawed, which may keep pressure on Alphabet’s AI credibility. Over 90% of AI chatbot answers about midterm elections are flawed, stunning analysis shows
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s large equity raise and higher AI capex guidance are still weighing on sentiment because investors are questioning how quickly those investments will pay off. Alphabet is seeking fresh capital as stock's 4-week losing streak tests investor appetite
• Negative Sentiment: Google also faces regulatory pressure in the UK over publisher-content rules in AI search, adding another policy risk for the business. Google search facing UK 'conduct requirement'

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOGL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report).

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.