SoundView Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• SoundView Advisors cut its Alphabet stake by 79.8% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 3,549 shares worth about $1.11 million.
• Alphabet continues to draw strong institutional interest overall, with large investors like Vanguard and JPMorgan increasing holdings and hedge funds and other institutions owning about 27.26% of the stock.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, including EPS of $5.11 versus estimates of $2.68 and revenue of $109.9 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

SoundView Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 79.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,549 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 13,999 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.4% of SoundView Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. SoundView Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after buying an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after buying an additional 7,904,434 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,032,291 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,749,864,000 after buying an additional 2,209,203 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,583,332 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,935,671,000 after buying an additional 223,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,625,464 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,971,769,000 after buying an additional 539,679 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud delivered a standout Q1 result, with revenue up 63% to $20 billion, margin reaching 32.9%, and backlog rising to $462 billion. That reinforces Alphabet’s growing second engine beyond search and supports the bull case for further upside. GOOGL Rides on Surging Google Cloud Demand: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud is also getting validation from new enterprise partnerships, including EQT’s rollout to help more than 300 portfolio companies adopt AI using Google Cloud tools. Private equity firm EQT partners with Google Cloud for AI rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo news continues to suggest Alphabet’s autonomous-driving business may be undervalued, with the new Ojai robotaxi designed to lower fleet costs and expand capacity. That strengthens the long-term optionality in Alphabet’s non-advertising businesses. Waymo opens Ojai robotaxis to select riders as company aims to lower cost of fleet
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary from Jim Cramer was supportive, calling Alphabet a “crucial position” and saying “there’s a lot to like here,” which can help reinforce bullish sentiment among retail investors. Jim Cramer on Alphabet: “There’s a Lot to Like Here”
• Neutral Sentiment: Shares were also mentioned in analyst-style and market commentary framing Alphabet as a core AI and cloud beneficiary, but these pieces were largely reiterations rather than new catalysts.
• Negative Sentiment: An Indian court ruling on keyword ads could increase trademark and legal risk for Google’s search advertising business, raising concerns about a core profit driver. Indian court ruling on Google keyword ads could reshape online advertising
• Negative Sentiment: News that a Google engineer was charged in a $1.2 million Polymarket insider-trading case may create a modest reputational overhang, even though it is not a direct business or financial issue for Alphabet. US charges Google engineer with insider trading on Polymarket

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 226,369 shares of company stock worth $27,388,127. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $376.43 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.33 and a 52 week high of $404.47. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $343.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $324.54. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. 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:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.81 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. Truist Financial set a $385.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Pivotal Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $470.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $372.65.

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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