Liberty Atlantic Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 1,860 Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Liberty Atlantic Advisors opened a new position in Alphabet, buying 1,860 shares in the fourth quarter worth about $582,000.
• Alphabet’s recent quarterly earnings came in well above expectations, with EPS of $5.11 versus the $2.64 consensus and revenue of $109.9 billion.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with an average Moderate Buy rating and a target price of $412.65.

Liberty Atlantic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,860 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $582,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $69,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $382.97 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $337.75 and a 200 day moving average of $321.52. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.00 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.41%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,955,564. This trade represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Phillip Securities raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore increased their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $412.65.

More 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

About Alphabet

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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