Simon Quick Advisors LLC Purchases 4,368 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its Alphabet stake by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 4,368 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 24,845 shares worth about $7.78 million.
• Alphabet continues to draw bullish sentiment from institutions and analysts, with multiple firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average target of $407.86.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share, though the yield remains low at 0.2%.

Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 21.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,845 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,368 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Facet Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Facet Wealth Inc. now owns 16,095 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,408,000 after buying an additional 5,087 shares during the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 2,413 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $755,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Axecap Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Axecap Investments LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Viewpoint Investment Partners Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Viewpoint Investment Partners Corp now owns 11,969 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,746,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Post Investment Office LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,108,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet News Summary

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

Alphabet Stock Down 0.4%

Alphabet stock opened at $401.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $327.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $316.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.00 and a 1-year high of $403.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 6.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 955 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,955,564. This trade represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 157,953 shares of company stock worth $47,767,818 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $425.00 price target (up from $395.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. President Capital upped their price objective on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $357.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $407.86.

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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