Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management trimmed its Alphabet stake by 2.8% in Q4, selling 88,497 shares and now holding 3,026,942 shares worth about $949.9 million, roughly 0.9% of its portfolio and its 14th-largest position.
• Significant insider selling has occurred recently — CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares and John Kent Walker sold 47,574, with insiders offloading 158,553 shares (~$47.95M) in the past three months while still owning about 12.99% of the company.
• Alphabet beat Q1 expectations, reporting $5.11 EPS vs. $2.68 expected and $109.9B revenue (up 21.8% YoY), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 ($0.88 annualized).

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,026,942 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 88,497 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.9% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's holdings in Alphabet were worth $949,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,821 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 33,373 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,534,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 8,105 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,543,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 10,359 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,251,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $251,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total transaction of $9,877,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,818,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $856,605,814.08. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $395.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $4.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $317.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $311.59. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.83 and a twelve month high of $397.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. 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 analysts' expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.81 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 momentum and Anthropic cloud deal continue to underpin the rally — social and analyst chatter notes a post-earnings surge, AI-fueled ad strength and a reported ~$200B Anthropic commitment that materially boosts Alphabet’s cloud backlog and revenue visibility. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets — Mizuho and other firms have raised forecasts and targets (examples around $460+), supporting upside expectations and helping push the stock higher. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying reported — a handful of funds disclosed fresh additions (Swiss National Bank, Allen Investment, Fisher Asset among others), signaling conviction from large holders. Read More. • Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: New consumer products and subscription moves could expand monetization but are early-stage — Google launched the Fitbit Air wearable and an AI health-coach subscription, which add recurring-revenue potential but are not yet material to near-term results. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulatory risk remains — Alphabet has proposed changes to news search to head off additional multibillion-euro fines, highlighting ongoing antitrust exposure that could pressure European revenue or require product changes. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider and some institutional selling — data show heavy insider sales in recent months and several large funds (Deutsche Bank, CalPERS, Madison) trimmed GOOG positions, which can cap short-term upside and increase volatility. Read More. • Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $348.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Truist Financial set a $385.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $395.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $362.73.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc NASDAQ: GOOG is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as "Other Bets." Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company's history.

Alphabet's core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company's ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

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