Little House Capital LLC Trims Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Little House Capital LLC cut its Alphabet stake by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,272 shares and leaving it with 8,475 shares valued at about $2.66 million.
• Alphabet continues to draw strong analyst support, with multiple firms reiterating Buy/Strong Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $372.65.
• The company posted a strong quarter, beating earnings and revenue estimates, while also raising its quarterly dividend from $0.21 to $0.22 per share.

Little House Capital LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,475 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,272 shares during the quarter. Little House Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kennedy Investment Group increased its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 17,580 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,517,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Alphabet by 116.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 192,045 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $60,264,000 after acquiring an additional 103,322 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. increased its position in Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 9,417 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Brown Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Brown Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,147 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,929,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northbridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $1,324,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud delivered a standout Q1 result, with revenue up 63% to $20 billion, margin reaching 32.9%, and backlog rising to $462 billion. That reinforces Alphabet’s growing second engine beyond search and supports the bull case for further upside. GOOGL Rides on Surging Google Cloud Demand: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud is also getting validation from new enterprise partnerships, including EQT’s rollout to help more than 300 portfolio companies adopt AI using Google Cloud tools. Private equity firm EQT partners with Google Cloud for AI rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo news continues to suggest Alphabet’s autonomous-driving business may be undervalued, with the new Ojai robotaxi designed to lower fleet costs and expand capacity. That strengthens the long-term optionality in Alphabet’s non-advertising businesses. Waymo opens Ojai robotaxis to select riders as company aims to lower cost of fleet
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary from Jim Cramer was supportive, calling Alphabet a “crucial position” and saying “there’s a lot to like here,” which can help reinforce bullish sentiment among retail investors. Jim Cramer on Alphabet: “There’s a Lot to Like Here”
• Neutral Sentiment: Shares were also mentioned in analyst-style and market commentary framing Alphabet as a core AI and cloud beneficiary, but these pieces were largely reiterations rather than new catalysts.
• Negative Sentiment: An Indian court ruling on keyword ads could increase trademark and legal risk for Google’s search advertising business, raising concerns about a core profit driver. Indian court ruling on Google keyword ads could reshape online advertising
• Negative Sentiment: News that a Google engineer was charged in a $1.2 million Polymarket insider-trading case may create a modest reputational overhang, even though it is not a direct business or financial issue for Alphabet. US charges Google engineer with insider trading on Polymarket

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Pivotal Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $470.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $395.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $372.65.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $376.43 on Friday. 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 $163.33 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $343.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $324.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

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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