HughesLittle Investment Management Ltd. Sells 20,278 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• HughesLittle Investment Management cut its Alphabet stake by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 20,278 shares and leaving it with 157,405 shares worth about $49.3 million.
• Alphabet shares were down 5.0% as investors weighed concerns about AI talent departures and execution risks in businesses like Waymo, even as the company continues to invest heavily in AI.
• Despite recent pressure, Alphabet reported strong quarterly results with EPS and revenue both beating estimates, and analysts still see upside with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and a $413.13 target price.

HughesLittle Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 157,405 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 20,278 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 8.2% of HughesLittle Investment Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. HughesLittle Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $49,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,534,239,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $4,338,397,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in Alphabet by 855.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,546,413,000 after purchasing an additional 13,004,828 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Alphabet by 28.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet and DeepMind announced a new AI research partnership with film studio A24, including about $75 million of investment, showing continued efforts to commercialize AI in creative tools. Google DeepMind signs AI research deal with film studio A24
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive on Alphabet’s AI spending, arguing that its cloud growth and AI investments could still be monetized over time. Morgan Stanley sees monetization potential in Google AI spending
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s cloud business continues to grow quickly and remains a key long-term driver, but heavy AI spending is also increasing near-term cost concerns. Is Alphabet the Best "Magnificent Seven" AI Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet stock is falling more than the broader market as investors worry about a high-profile AI talent exodus from Google DeepMind and Gemini leadership. Alphabet paces for worst day in a year on AI concerns after high-profile exits
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Google DeepMind scientist John Jumper left for Anthropic added to fears that Alphabet is losing key AI researchers to competitors. Alphabet Is Now Cheaper Than What Berkshire Paid
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo’s recall of 3,871 robotaxis after a software glitch is another reminder that Alphabet’s autonomy business still faces execution risk. Waymo Just Recalled 3,800 Robotaxis. Is Google's Self-Driving Dream Hitting a Wall?

Alphabet Trading Down 5.0%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $349.68 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $367.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $332.31. The company has a market cap of $4.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 1.57 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 1 year low of $162.00 and a 1 year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $435.00 price objective (up from $427.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating and set a $460.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $393.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $413.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 160,516 shares of company stock worth $7,344,604 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Company 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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