HS Management Partners LLC Has $20.66 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• HS Management Partners cut its Alphabet stake by 30.6% in the first quarter, but Alphabet remains its largest holding at about 7.2% of the portfolio, worth roughly $20.66 million.
• Alphabet’s latest earnings were strong, with EPS of $5.11 beating estimates and revenue of $109.9 billion topping expectations, while quarterly revenue rose 21.8% year over year.
• Analysts remain upbeat on GOOG, with multiple firms reaffirming Buy/Strong Buy ratings and an average price target of about $376.19; the stock also recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

HS Management Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 30.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,018 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 31,796 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 7.2% of HS Management Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. HS Management Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,643,262,000 after acquiring an additional 179,369,280 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its stake in Alphabet by 28,482.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 850.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,551,938,000 after purchasing an additional 15,830,754 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is looking for another strong earnings report from Alphabet, with AI and Google Cloud expected to keep driving growth ahead of the company’s upcoming results. Alphabet Q2 Earnings Preview: What To Expect From Upcoming Report
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google unit joined a €411 million funding round for Proxima Fusion, reinforcing its interest in frontier energy and other long-duration AI-adjacent opportunities. Google, RWE back Proxima Fusion in €411 million financing round
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Alphabet as a potential “forever holding” for Berkshire-style investors may be helping reinforce the stock’s long-term AI and cash-flow appeal. Prediction: This Magnificent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Will Become Berkshire's Next Forever Holding
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet announced that its Made by Google Pixel event will be held on August 12, which could build anticipation for new hardware updates but is not a major fundamental catalyst by itself. Google's Pixel event is set for August 12
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary comparing Alphabet with Palantir and Taiwan Semiconductor keeps Alphabet in the center of AI-stock debates, but these are mostly valuation and relative-performance discussions rather than direct business news. Palantir Vs. Google: Why Palantir is Surging in July and Should Investors Buy it Over Google?
• Negative Sentiment: TechCrunch reported that Google is expanding AI training to include more user-uploaded media, which could raise fresh privacy concerns and fuel scrutiny over how customer data is used. If you use Google, you're training its AI. Here's how to opt out.
• Negative Sentiment: Business Insider noted that Google’s status as a top tech employer is becoming less certain as AI-linked salary competition pushes some talent elsewhere, which could add pressure to retention. Google's status as the dream tech job is changing. FOMO over AI salaries is only one reason why.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $376.19.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $363.62 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $369.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $334.35. The stock has a market cap of $4.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 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 $173.88 and a 12 month high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Profile

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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