Next Century Growth Investors LLC Sells 4,916 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Next Century Growth Investors LLC cut its Alphabet stake by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,916 shares and leaving it with 34,294 shares valued at about $10.7 million.
• Wall Street remains upbeat on Alphabet, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $413.13; several firms recently raised targets or reiterated buy ratings.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,294 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,916 shares during the period. Next Century Growth Investors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Symmetry Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Members Trust Co grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,489,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,274,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $369.35 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.00 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average of $361.93 and a 200-day moving average of $330.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Trending Headlines about 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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,132,701. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 191,966 shares of company stock worth $16,963,968 in the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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