Maytree Asset Management Ltd Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Maytree Asset Management cut its Alphabet stake by 71.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 41,475 shares and leaving it with 16,850 shares worth about $5.27 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on Alphabet, with several firms raising price targets; the stock has a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average target of $412.65.
• Alphabet posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue expectations, and also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21.

Maytree Asset Management Ltd decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 71.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,850 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 41,475 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 3.9% of Maytree Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Maytree Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $416,217,000. Sovran Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,241 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 50,064 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,171,000 after acquiring an additional 8,746 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 72,608 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,740 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,666,577 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $405,131,000 after acquiring an additional 60,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on GOOGL. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $405.00 price objective (up from $360.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $435.00 price objective (up from $427.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $412.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 worth $27,422,061 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $382.97 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.00 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The business's fifty day moving average is $337.75 and its 200-day moving average is $321.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market cap of $4.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS 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 dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Q1 results were highlighted as one of the strongest among the Mag 7, with Google Cloud showing accelerating sales growth and broader AI momentum helping investor sentiment. Alphabet and NVIDIA: The Biggest Mag 7 Winners This Earnings Season
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s I/O announcements continued to reinforce Alphabet’s AI story, including new AI search experiences, agent tools, and upcoming AI glasses that suggest the company is expanding beyond traditional search. We tried Google's AI glasses and they're almost there
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with multiple firms reiterating positive views and new AI ad formats seen as potentially boosting conversions and monetization in Search and Commerce. Alphabet's new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled a $15 billion Missouri data center investment, underscoring continued capital spending to support AI infrastructure and cloud demand. Google Unveils $15 Billion Missouri Data Center Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles discussed Google’s revamped AI-driven search experience and agent ecosystem, which are strategically important but still too early to measure their near-term financial impact. Google is pitching an AI agent ecosystem to consumers who may not buy it
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo temporarily suspended service in multiple cities after robotaxis drove into flooded roads, adding another safety and execution concern for Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s appeal of the antitrust ruling remains the biggest overhang, since a loss or forced remedies could eventually weigh on the company’s core search and advertising economics. Google appeals US court ruling on search monopoly

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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