Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Lockheed Martin Investment Management increased its Alphabet stake by 77.1% in Q4, buying 171,190 more shares and bringing its total to 393,290 shares worth about $123.1 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $5.11 versus $2.64 expected and revenue of $109.9 billion versus $106.98 billion expected, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.
• Analysts remain largely bullish on GOOGL, with several firms raising price targets and MarketBeat data showing a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $413.04.

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 77.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 393,290 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 171,190 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 4.1% of Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $123,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $416,217,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $277,696,000 after purchasing an additional 93,293 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 23.6% during the third quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,241 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% during the third quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 72,608 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,666,577 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $405,131,000 after purchasing an additional 60,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $358.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $349.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $326.85. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.00 and a 12 month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change 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%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 6.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Moffett Nathanson boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.04.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s reported $10 billion commitment to Alphabet’s capital raise is a strong vote of confidence in the company’s AI and cloud strategy, helping validate the long-term investment case. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion for AI goals, Berkshire to invest $10 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street continues to frame Alphabet as a major AI beneficiary, with analysts reaffirming bullish price targets and noting rising demand for Google Cloud and AI infrastructure. Alphabet had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC
• Neutral Sentiment: Lovable’s expanded multi-year Google Cloud deal highlights ongoing customer demand for Alphabet’s cloud services, but it is a modest business development rather than a major near-term catalyst. Lovable signs multi-year deal with Google Cloud to up usage 5x, source says
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around the AI boom and Alphabet’s expanding role in the sector supports the growth narrative, but much of it is sentiment-driven rather than a direct earnings update. Alphabet to raise $84.75 billion in upsized equity offering to fund AI ambitions
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s massive $84.75 billion equity raise is stirring dilution concerns and signaling that AI infrastructure spending will remain extremely capital intensive, which has weighed on the stock. Alphabet to raise $84.75 billion in upsized equity offering to fund AI ambitions
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulators imposed new conduct requirements on Google Search, including giving publishers more control over AI use of their content, adding a fresh regulatory overhang for Alphabet’s search and AI businesses. UK regulator enforces new competition requirements for Google search

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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