Profund Advisors LLC Sells 12,703 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Profund Advisors LLC trimmed its Alphabet stake by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,703 shares and leaving it with 203,895 shares valued at about $63.98 million.
• Alphabet continues to draw strong analyst support, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $372.65, even as some firms recently adjusted their views and targets.
• The company posted a strong quarterly earnings beat, reporting $5.11 EPS versus estimates of $2.68 and revenue of $109.9 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

Profund Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 203,895 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 12,703 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.9% of Profund Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Profund Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $63,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 76.2% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $330,886,000 after acquiring an additional 806,681 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,618,000 after acquiring an additional 3,616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Pivotal Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $470.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $372.65.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total value of $284,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,091.71. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $386.12 on Friday. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $341.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $323.94. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $163.33 and a one year high of $404.47. The firm has a market cap of $4.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.81 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Waymo unit is rolling out its new “Ojai” robotaxi to select riders in major U.S. cities, with a roomier design, lower manufacturing costs, and a removable steering wheel — all signs that the autonomous vehicle business may become more scalable and economically viable. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet also announced a Google Cloud partnership with EQT to help more than 300 portfolio companies accelerate AI adoption, reinforcing cloud and AI as key growth drivers for the company beyond advertising. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary from Jim Cramer and several market notes described Alphabet as a “crucial position” and suggested investors still may be underestimating Waymo’s value, which can help sentiment but does not change fundamentals by itself. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also interest in Alphabet’s AI-search changes and new Gemini-powered ad formats, which could improve monetization over time, but some observers say the overhaul is still controversial and early reactions are mixed. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Federal prosecutors charged a Google software engineer with using confidential information to make about $1.2 million on Polymarket bets, creating unwanted reputational risk for Alphabet and adding headlines that may pressure sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s recent AI Search overhaul is also drawing criticism, with some users and rival search services benefiting as concerns grow that Google’s changes could hurt traffic patterns and user satisfaction. Article Title

Alphabet Company 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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