Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ cut its Alphabet stake by 1.2% in the first quarter, selling 32,550 shares and leaving it with 2,586,988 shares worth about $743.9 million. Alphabet remains the fund’s fifth-largest holding.
• Insider selling was also reported, including sales by John Kent Walker and Frances Arnold. In the last quarter, insiders sold 160,465 shares valued at about $8.0 million.
• Despite the selling, Alphabet continues to draw bullish analyst coverage and positive commentary around AI and Google Cloud, with an average price target of $413.54. The company also recently beat quarterly earnings estimates and raised its dividend slightly.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,586,988 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 32,550 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 3.9% of Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings in Alphabet were worth $743,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are highlighting Alphabet as a top AI stock, with billionaire Jeffrey Talpins reportedly naming it a preferred AI idea, reinforcing confidence in the company’s long-term AI upside. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Is A Top AI Stock To Buy According To Billionaire Jeffrey Talpins
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud is being touted as a major growth engine, with commentary suggesting it may be “driving the train” for Alphabet thanks to strong cloud momentum and a large backlog, which supports the bull case for revenue and margin expansion. Is Google Cloud Officially Driving the Train?
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was featured as a “final trade” on CNBC, and several bullish pieces point to continued investor interest in the stock after strong gains over the past year. Netflix, Alphabet, Nike And A Consumer Defensive Stock On CNBC's ‘Final Trades'
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles noting Alphabet’s strong stock performance and asking whether it is too late to buy may keep the stock in focus, but they mainly reflect momentum rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Down Over 10% From Its All-Time High, Is Now the Perfect Time to Buy Alphabet Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure remains a drag after Europe’s final €4.1 billion Android antitrust ruling, which adds to legal risk around Alphabet’s mobile and search ecosystem. Alphabet (GOOGL) Faces Final €4.1b Android Antitrust Ruling In Europe
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy-related reporting that Google is expanding AI training using user-uploaded media could raise user trust and regulatory concerns, even if it also supports AI model development. If you use Google, you're training its AI. Here's how to opt out.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $390.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.54.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $5.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $371.61. 4,065,557 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,626,334. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $172.77 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $371.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $334.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a market cap of $4.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

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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