J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Has $57.08 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• J.W. Cole Advisors reduced its Alphabet stake by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, but still held 181,891 shares worth about $57.1 million, making GOOG its 10th-largest position.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $5.11 per share beating estimates and revenue rising 21.8% year over year to $109.9 billion.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share, while recent analyst commentary remained mostly positive with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $376.78.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 181,891 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 14,479 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $57,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its position in Alphabet by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 258 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1,438.5% in the 4th quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 200 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business's 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was 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 owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $353.32 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.33 and a twelve month high of $404.47. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $355.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $328.84. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. 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 the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.81 EPS. The company's revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS 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 paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.71%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding Gemini with new tools aimed at small businesses, which could help broaden adoption and monetize AI services. Google Debuts Gemini Features Geared to Small Businesses
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s support for Anthropic’s $35 billion AI infrastructure financing deal reinforces its central role in AI buildout and could boost cloud demand. Google Backs $35 Billion Anthropic AI Infrastructure Financing Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Gemini monthly users have doubled highlight strong product momentum and strengthen the long-term AI growth story. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Reports Doubling of Gemini App Monthly Users to 900 Million
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s reported $920 million-per-month AI compute deal with SpaceX may support future growth, but it also signals rising infrastructure spending and AI competition costs. Google's $920 Million-a-Month Deal Could Supercharge the SpaceX IPO
• Negative Sentiment: A fire at a third-party data center caused intermittent Google Cloud disruptions in India, which could raise reliability concerns for some customers. Fire at third-party facility disrupts Google Cloud network traffic in India
• Negative Sentiment: A California judge denied Google’s request for a new trial in the youth social media addiction case, leaving legal liability concerns in place. Meta and Google denied new trial after landmark verdict in youth social media addiction case

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Freedom Capital lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Pivotal Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $470.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $376.78.

Alphabet Company 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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