Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Steel Grove Capital Advisors cut its Alphabet stake by 38.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 7,724 shares and leaving it with 12,322 shares valued at about $3.87 million.
• Despite some recent trimming by one fund, institutional ownership remains substantial, with hedge funds and other institutions holding about 27.26% of Alphabet’s stock, while analysts mostly remain bullish.
• Alphabet continues to draw attention for its AI spending and growth: it boosted planned capital raising to fund AI infrastructure, reported strong Gemini usage, and received new price targets from analysts as high as $460.

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 38.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,322 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,724 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 0.4% of Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $63,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 29.0% during the third quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 258 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $435.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. DZ Bank raised shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $376.00.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to show strong AI momentum, including a reported expansion of its Google Cloud partnership with Lovable and reports that Apple may use Google Cloud to help power a revamped Siri. Those deals reinforce demand for Alphabet’s cloud and AI infrastructure. Lovable signs multi-year deal with Google Cloud to up usage 5x, source says
• Positive Sentiment: Investor confidence appears to be supported by major backers, with Berkshire Hathaway and ARK-related buying cited alongside strong analyst interest and price targets near the low-to-mid $400s. That institutional support is helping offset some of the recent weakness. Google Stock Lures in Both Cathie Wood and Berkshire Hathaway as Giant Investors Rush for a Discount
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI spending plan and equity raise remain the biggest focus: the company increased its planned capital raise to about $84.75 billion to fund AI infrastructure, while also guiding capital expenditures as high as $190 billion. Investors see this as a sign of ambition and demand, but also of heavy near-term spending needs. Alphabet to raise $84.75 billion in upsized equity offering to fund AI ambitions
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also reported strong AI usage trends, including Gemini reaching 900 million users, which supports the long-term growth narrative even as the market debates whether AI returns justify the spending surge. Alphabet’s Gemini AI App Surges to 900 Million Users
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment was pressured by Alphabet’s massive new equity financing, which raised dilution and return-on-capex questions as the company leans harder into AI buildout. Some investors are worried the AI infrastructure race is becoming too expensive. Google Stock Drops on New Data Center Buildout amid $190B Capex Headache
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI search business also faces new U.K. conduct requirements that let publishers opt out of AI summaries and training use, which could constrain the company’s search monetization and data access over time. UK regulator enforces new competition requirements for Google search
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of quiet layoffs in Google Cloud added to the cautious tone, suggesting Alphabet is still trimming costs even as it ramps spending elsewhere. Google is quietly laying off staff in its cloud division

Alphabet Stock Up 3.8%

GOOG opened at $369.27 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.33 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $348.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $326.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.28 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. 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. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet 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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