MML Investors Services LLC Has $461.71 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• MML Investors Services LLC slightly reduced its Alphabet stake by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, but still held 1.48 million shares valued at about $461.7 million.
• Alphabet continues to attract major institutional interest, with firms like Berkshire Hathaway and others adding or holding sizable positions; institutional investors now own about 40% of the stock.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive: several analysts raised price targets, and Alphabet’s latest earnings beat expectations with $5.11 EPS and $109.9 billion in quarterly revenue, while the company also boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.22.

MML Investors Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,475,095 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 9,137 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of MML Investors Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $461,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $416,217,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 11.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,902,000. Private Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,717 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,736,000 after acquiring an additional 2,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $4,338,397,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at $7,132,701. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 191,966 shares of company stock worth $16,963,968 in the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google’s legal action against an AI-enabled scam network highlights Alphabet’s role in fighting online fraud and may strengthen trust in its security ecosystem. AI Scam Surge Prompts Google to File Lawsuit
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Alphabet as a key AI winner, with Gemini, cloud spending, and enterprise demand seen as long-term growth drivers. 3 AI Stocks Poised for Long-Term Gains Despite Strong Year-to-Date Performance
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s increased stake in Alphabet adds a high-profile endorsement and suggests long-term confidence in the stock’s AI and platform value. Berkshire Hathaway's Greg Abel Just Made a Big Bet on Who Will Win the AI Races

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.7%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $369.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $162.00 and a one year high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The business's fifty day moving average is $361.93 and its 200-day moving average is $330.66.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 (DPR) is presently 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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