Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC Acquires 4,306 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Lodestar Private Asset Management increased its Alphabet stake by 84.9% in the first quarter, buying 4,306 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 9,375 shares worth about $2.69 million.
• Alphabet continues to attract strong analyst support, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $376.19, while several firms have recently reiterated bullish views and raised targets.
• The company’s latest results were solid, as Alphabet beat earnings and revenue expectations in the prior quarter and also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 84.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,375 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,306 shares during the quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Pivotal Research restated 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $376.19.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is looking for another strong earnings report from Alphabet, with AI and Google Cloud expected to keep driving growth ahead of the company’s upcoming results. Alphabet Q2 Earnings Preview: What To Expect From Upcoming Report
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google unit joined a €411 million funding round for Proxima Fusion, reinforcing its interest in frontier energy and other long-duration AI-adjacent opportunities. Google, RWE back Proxima Fusion in €411 million financing round
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Alphabet as a potential “forever holding” for Berkshire-style investors may be helping reinforce the stock’s long-term AI and cash-flow appeal. Prediction: This Magnificent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Will Become Berkshire's Next Forever Holding
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet announced that its Made by Google Pixel event will be held on August 12, which could build anticipation for new hardware updates but is not a major fundamental catalyst by itself. Google's Pixel event is set for August 12
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary comparing Alphabet with Palantir and Taiwan Semiconductor keeps Alphabet in the center of AI-stock debates, but these are mostly valuation and relative-performance discussions rather than direct business news. Palantir Vs. Google: Why Palantir is Surging in July and Should Investors Buy it Over Google?
• Negative Sentiment: TechCrunch reported that Google is expanding AI training to include more user-uploaded media, which could raise fresh privacy concerns and fuel scrutiny over how customer data is used. If you use Google, you're training its AI. Here's how to opt out.
• Negative Sentiment: Business Insider noted that Google’s status as a top tech employer is becoming less certain as AI-linked salary competition pushes some talent elsewhere, which could add pressure to retention. Google's status as the dream tech job is changing. FOMO over AI salaries is only one reason why.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $363.62 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $369.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $334.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $173.88 and a 12 month high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.81 EPS. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

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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