Quent Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Quent Capital LLC increased its Alphabet stake by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 3,440 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 36,822 shares worth about $11.5 million.
• Alphabet has been getting positive attention from analysts, with several firms raising price targets; the consensus rating is now “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $407.86.
• The company recently reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings expectations with $5.11 EPS on $109.9 billion in revenue, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,822 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,440 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 0.8% of Quent Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Quent Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is being viewed as a major AI winner, with multiple reports highlighting strong demand for its infrastructure, cloud, and Gemini AI efforts as hyperscalers pour capital into AI. Hyperscalers Now Competing With US Treasury for Capital, Driving Up Government Borrowing Costs
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s stock has been re-rated higher by the market, with analysts and commentators pointing to a stronger valuation profile and improved confidence in its earnings power. Why The Market Is Re-Rating Google Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google Pay partnership with Affirm could broaden monetization and make Google’s payments ecosystem more attractive to consumers and merchants. Affirm's Google Deal Aims for Your Wallet (GOOGL)
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Alphabet is gaining momentum in government AI contracts, which could open a new high-value revenue stream and help diversify away from ads. Why Palantir Suddenly Looks Vulnerable After Google’s Move

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total value of $9,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,818,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at $856,605,814.08. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total value of $33,934.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,418 shares in the company, valued at $5,580,469.82. This trade represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 157,953 shares of company stock worth $47,767,818. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $407.86.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $401.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.59, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. The company's fifty day moving average is $327.43 and its 200 day moving average is $316.71. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.00 and a 52 week high of $403.70. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. 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%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

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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