Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Sells 39,269 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors trimmed its Alphabet stake by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 39,269 shares but still holding 2,973,433 shares worth about $994.8 million. Alphabet remains its largest holding at roughly 8.9% of the portfolio.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Alphabet, with several raising price targets recently. The stock currently carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $407.86.
• Alphabet continues to show strong fundamentals and AI momentum, posting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and announcing a slightly higher dividend. However, the company also faces ongoing regulatory risk, including EU antitrust scrutiny and a new UK lawsuit.

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,973,433 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 39,269 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 8.9% of Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA's holdings in Alphabet were worth $994,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. KeyCorp set a $425.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Dbs Bank lifted their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $407.86.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value 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 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet unveiled upcoming AI-powered bidding and budget-pacing tools for Google Ads, which could make Search and Shopping advertising more efficient and attractive for advertisers. Google AI Automates Ad Bidding and Budget Pacing
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts raised price targets on Alphabet, including DBS Bank to $460 and other firms lifting estimates after the company’s earnings beat, reinforcing the view that results remain stronger than expected. DBS Bank Adjusts Price Target on Alphabet to 460
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s partnership with OTB Group on a generative-AI virtual try-on experience adds to the narrative that Alphabet can monetize AI across enterprise and retail use cases. Google Cloud Partners With OTB Group
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted strong investor appetite for AI leaders such as Google, and recent coverage continues to frame Alphabet as one of the main beneficiaries of the AI spending cycle. Google, Broadcom Drive Delirious Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reports on Google’s AI “agent” efforts and AI search features suggest Alphabet is expanding its product lead in next-generation search and automation tools. Meta, Google enter AI agent race
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also getting more time to address EU regulators’ concerns in an ongoing antitrust investigation, which removes some immediate pressure but does not eliminate the legal overhang. Google Gets More Time in EU Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Google faces a new UK lawsuit over online display ads, adding another antitrust/legal risk that could weigh on sentiment if regulatory scrutiny intensifies. Google Faces New UK Lawsuit Over Online Display Ads

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $400.69 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $318.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $311.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $152.20 and a 12-month high of $402.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given 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%.

Alphabet 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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