New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 1,771 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• New York State Teachers Retirement System slightly reduced its Alphabet stake by selling 1,771 shares in the first quarter, but it still held 4.73 million shares worth about $1.36 billion, making Alphabet its fifth-largest position.
• Alphabet reported a strong quarterly beat, posting $5.11 EPS versus the $2.64 consensus and revenue of $109.9 billion, while analysts still expect continued earnings growth for the full year.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying an overall “Moderate Buy” rating; Alphabet also recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,731,986 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,771 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 2.8% of New York State Teachers Retirement System's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. New York State Teachers Retirement System's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,360,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $1.71 during trading on Friday, reaching $357.18. 18,122,822 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,870,564. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $372.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $336.44. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.48 and a 1-year high of $408.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Arete Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and set a $460.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.92.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its price target on Alphabet to $445 from $425 and kept an overweight rating, reinforcing the view that the stock still has meaningful upside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple upbeat articles highlighted Alphabet as a leading AI and cloud beneficiary, with commentary pointing to strong distribution through Search, Android, YouTube, Google Cloud, and chips as reasons it could monetize AI better than peers.
• Positive Sentiment: New coverage argued Alphabet looks undervalued after a big run over the past year, while other pieces said the company remains one of the most attractive megacap tech names on a risk/reward basis.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and other market commentators continued to include GOOGL among cloud and internet stocks positioned to benefit from AI-driven data center spending and digital demand growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Business and tech commentary also pointed to product and platform strengths, including Google Search setting records during the World Cup and Waymo planning more driverless-car expansion, which support the long-term growth narrative.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet said it will begin disclosing which ads are generated with AI, a transparency move that may help trust and compliance but is unlikely to materially change near-term earnings.
• Neutral Sentiment: Britain moved to regulate Google as a critical cloud supplier to protect financial stability; the change adds oversight, but it also underscores the importance of Google Cloud rather than signaling a fundamental business setback.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reported that Google is appealing an Indian ads-related trademark ruling, a legal issue that could create some noise but does not yet appear to be a major stock-moving event.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent short-interest data was effectively flat at zero shares reported, offering little actionable signal for traders.
• Negative Sentiment: One Reuters-linked report said Google and OpenAI provided AI services to Singapore-based subsidiaries of Chinese groups on the Pentagon blacklist, which could raise regulatory scrutiny and geopolitical concerns.
• Negative Sentiment: Technical commentary noted Alphabet is testing a key resistance zone after a recovery, suggesting the stock may need a fresh catalyst to extend its move higher.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

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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