SCS Capital Management LLC Sells 9,153 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• SCS Capital Management reduced its Alphabet position by 14% in the fourth quarter, selling 9,153 shares and leaving it with 56,301 shares worth about $17.7 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.11 and revenue of $109.9 billion, both above analyst expectations. Revenue rose 21.8% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21, while analysts largely remain bullish with a consensus Buy rating and a price target of $376.78.

SCS Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,301 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 9,153 shares during the period. SCS Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 806,681 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 3,616 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $362.29 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $353.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $328.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.33 and a 1 year high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business's revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm 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 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 payout ratio is 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,132,701. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $435.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $376.78.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Gemini usage growth and strong Google Cloud momentum suggest Alphabet’s AI strategy is gaining traction and could support future revenue growth.
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its price target to $475 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence in Alphabet’s upside.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to view Alphabet as a long-term compounder with durable Search cash flow plus cloud and AI expansion. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s new capital-raising and AI infrastructure spending plans could help fund growth, but they also create uncertainty about near-term cash flow and dilution.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Alphabet is paying SpaceX about $920 million per month for AI compute add to concerns that the company is leaning on outside infrastructure to meet AI demand, increasing costs in the near term.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary suggests investors are worried that elevated AI capex could pressure margins if the payoff from AI products takes longer than expected.

About Alphabet

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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