Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Wakefield Asset Management cut its Alphabet stake by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,388 shares and leaving it with 15,682 shares worth about $4.91 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive: Alphabet has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with a consensus price target of $413.04, and several firms recently raised targets, including Bank of America to $430.
• Alphabet reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $5.11 versus $2.64 expected and revenue of $109.9 billion; the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share.

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 21.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,682 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,388 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.3% of Wakefield Asset Management LLLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Symmetry Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Members Trust Co grew its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,489,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,274,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $390.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 29th. Freedom Capital cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $413.04.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly added another $10 billion to its Alphabet stake, an unusual endorsement that also drew interest from Cathie Wood’s ARK, suggesting strong institutional confidence in the company’s AI strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet expanded its multi-year Google Cloud deal with Lovable, highlighting continued demand for its cloud and AI infrastructure services.
• Positive Sentiment: Needham reiterated a Buy rating with a $450 price target, and other analysts raised revenue expectations for Google Cloud.
• Positive Sentiment: DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said AGI may be only a few years away, reinforcing the market’s view that Alphabet remains one of the central players in the AI arms race.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $358.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $349.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $326.85. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.22 dividend. 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 is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Profile

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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