Montag A & Associates Inc. Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Montag A & Associates Inc. cut its Alphabet stake by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 5,555 shares and leaving it with 87,669 shares valued at about $27.44 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.11 versus estimates of $2.64 and revenue of $109.9 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive, with several firms raising price targets and Alphabet carrying a consensus Moderate Buy rating and target price of $412.65, even as some Waymo and regulatory concerns linger.

Montag A & Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,669 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 5,555 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.3% of Montag A & Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Montag A & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,621 shares in the company, valued at $6,908,391. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents 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 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $387.66 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $336.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $320.82. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.00 and a twelve month high of $408.61. 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 company has a market cap of $4.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google I/O announcements reinforced the company’s AI monetization story, with new ad formats, shopping tools, and Gemini-based products that could lift search and commerce revenue. Alphabet's new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts reiterated bullish or supportive views on Alphabet after I/O, including price-target increases that point to more upside if AI rollout gains traction. Analyst rating updates on Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s broader AI push remains a tailwind for Alphabet, with articles highlighting strong cloud/AI demand and growing usage across Gemini and AI Overviews. 4 Cloud Computing Stocks Benefiting From AI-Driven Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to win favorable Wall Street coverage, including multiple buy ratings and raised targets, which can help support the stock near recent highs. Alphabet's Googlebook Brings Gemini AI to PC Hardware
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s quarterly dividend increase and continued strong earnings remain supportive, but these were already known catalysts rather than a fresh surprise for traders. Alphabet stock performance and company details
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a routine insider sale by a director, which may get attention but does not by itself change the company’s long-term outlook. SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s new AI search experience has sparked debate about the future of web traffic and search behavior, but this is more of a strategic overhang than an immediate earnings issue. Google is going to ruin the internet
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo suspended freeway robotaxi rides and paused Atlanta operations while it fixes software problems in construction zones and flooded roads, raising short-term safety and execution concerns for Alphabet’s self-driving unit. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports said Waymo paused service in multiple cities after robotaxis struggled in heavy rain and construction zones, reinforcing concerns about rollout reliability. Waymo halts freeway rides after robotaxis struggle in construction zones
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and public-safety scrutiny is also building around Google’s platforms, including EU complaints over financial scams and UK child-safety criticism on YouTube. Google, Meta, TikTok face EU consumer complaints about handling of financial scams

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. Arete Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. 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 MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $412.65.

Alphabet Company 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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