Highland Capital Management LLC Acquires 27,001 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Highland Capital Management increased its Alphabet stake by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 27,001 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 180,169 shares worth about $56.4 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, posting $5.11 EPS versus the $2.64 estimate and revenue of $109.9 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on GOOGL, with multiple firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus target of $412.65.

Highland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,169 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 27,001 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.8% of Highland Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $56,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $416,217,000. Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,241 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 50,064 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,171,000 after purchasing an additional 8,746 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 72,608 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings 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 valued at $405,131,000 after buying an additional 60,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,908,391. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Arete Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Phillip Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $412.65.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $382.97 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.26. The business's 50-day moving average is $337.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $321.26. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.00 and a 1 year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 6.41%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Q1 results were highlighted as one of the strongest among the Mag 7, with Google Cloud showing accelerating sales growth and broader AI momentum helping investor sentiment. Alphabet and NVIDIA: The Biggest Mag 7 Winners This Earnings Season
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s I/O announcements continued to reinforce Alphabet’s AI story, including new AI search experiences, agent tools, and upcoming AI glasses that suggest the company is expanding beyond traditional search. We tried Google's AI glasses and they're almost there
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with multiple firms reiterating positive views and new AI ad formats seen as potentially boosting conversions and monetization in Search and Commerce. Alphabet's new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled a $15 billion Missouri data center investment, underscoring continued capital spending to support AI infrastructure and cloud demand. Google Unveils $15 Billion Missouri Data Center Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles discussed Google’s revamped AI-driven search experience and agent ecosystem, which are strategically important but still too early to measure their near-term financial impact. Google is pitching an AI agent ecosystem to consumers who may not buy it
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo temporarily suspended service in multiple cities after robotaxis drove into flooded roads, adding another safety and execution concern for Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s appeal of the antitrust ruling remains the biggest overhang, since a loss or forced remedies could eventually weigh on the company’s core search and advertising economics. Google appeals US court ruling on search monopoly

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.

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