Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. Sells 46,720 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Sprucegrove Investment Management cut its Alphabet stake by 69.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 46,720 shares and leaving it with 20,344 shares worth about $6.37 million.
• Alphabet reported stronger-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $5.11 versus estimates of $2.64 and revenue of $109.9 billion, helped by solid Google Cloud growth and AI momentum.
• Insider selling and mixed risks remain in focus, including CEO Sundar Pichai’s share sale and ongoing antitrust and Waymo-related concerns, even as analysts mostly maintain bullish ratings and higher price targets.

Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 69.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,344 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 46,720 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.8% of Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co boosted its stake in Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total value of $9,859,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,674,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $508,028,012.80. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061 in the last 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $382.97 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.00 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $337.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $321.52. The stock has a market cap of $4.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Q1 results were highlighted as one of the strongest among the Mag 7, with Google Cloud showing accelerating sales growth and broader AI momentum helping investor sentiment. Alphabet and NVIDIA: The Biggest Mag 7 Winners This Earnings Season
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s I/O announcements continued to reinforce Alphabet’s AI story, including new AI search experiences, agent tools, and upcoming AI glasses that suggest the company is expanding beyond traditional search. We tried Google's AI glasses and they're almost there
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with multiple firms reiterating positive views and new AI ad formats seen as potentially boosting conversions and monetization in Search and Commerce. Alphabet's new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled a $15 billion Missouri data center investment, underscoring continued capital spending to support AI infrastructure and cloud demand. Google Unveils $15 Billion Missouri Data Center Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles discussed Google’s revamped AI-driven search experience and agent ecosystem, which are strategically important but still too early to measure their near-term financial impact. Google is pitching an AI agent ecosystem to consumers who may not buy it
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo temporarily suspended service in multiple cities after robotaxis drove into flooded roads, adding another safety and execution concern for Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle unit. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s appeal of the antitrust ruling remains the biggest overhang, since a loss or forced remedies could eventually weigh on the company’s core search and advertising economics. Google appeals US court ruling on search monopoly

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $425.00 price target (up from $395.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating and issued a $460.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $412.65.

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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