Marietta Investment Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Marietta Investment Partners trimmed its Alphabet stake by 2.4% in Q1, selling 1,649 shares and leaving it with 67,493 shares worth about $19.4 million. Alphabet remains the firm’s third-largest holding, accounting for 3.9% of its portfolio.
• Several other large institutional investors also added to Alphabet positions, and institutions now own 40.03% of the company. Meanwhile, insiders have been net sellers, including John Kent Walker and Frances Arnold.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on GOOGL, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $413.73. Alphabet also recently beat earnings estimates, reporting $5.11 EPS on $109.9 billion in revenue.

Marietta Investment Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,493 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,649 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 3.9% of Marietta Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Marietta Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,524,841,000 after purchasing an additional 4,008,374 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $45,625,595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $21,630,861,000 after buying an additional 3,218,852 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. HSBC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $413.73.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is being highlighted by analysts and market commentators as a top large-cap or “monopoly” stock, with bullish takes pointing to its AI-enabled ad business, cloud exposure, and strong earnings outlook. Here’s Why Alphabet (GOOGL) Is One of the Best Monopoly Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds
• Positive Sentiment: Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis called for a U.S.-led AI standards body, reinforcing Alphabet’s leadership role in frontier AI development and potentially supporting long-term investor confidence. Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis calls for U.S. to spearhead AI standards body
• Positive Sentiment: INVIDI announced a collaboration with Google to expand addressable advertising on unconnected set-top boxes, a potentially incremental ad monetization opportunity for Alphabet. INVIDI Technologies Collaborates with Google to Integrate Google Ad Manager...
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports say Alphabet continues to outperform the market and remains favored by growth investors, but these are mostly commentary pieces rather than new business developments. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also digesting broader optimism around Alphabet’s valuation, cash generation, and AI chip strategy, which supports the stock but does not appear to be the main driver of the move. Google Vs. Nvidia: The Hidden Silicon Advantage That Could Let Google Dethrone Nvidia
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet is facing fresh antitrust scrutiny in Switzerland over the removal of the Android “choice screen,” adding to regulatory pressure on its search dominance. Google probed by Swiss regulator over Android default search feature
• Negative Sentiment: Google also faces a new class-action lawsuit from publishers and authors alleging improper use of copyrighted works to train Gemini, raising legal and potential cost risks. Google faces another AI training lawsuit from major publishers
• Negative Sentiment: UK and Swiss regulatory actions targeting Google Search and Android data portability also weigh on sentiment because they could weaken Alphabet’s search moat over time. Should UK Search Data Portability Rules For Google Reshape Alphabet’s Competitive Moat (GOOGL) Narrative?

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $359.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.48 and a 52 week high of $408.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $371.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $337.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

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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