WNY Asset Management LLC Makes New $2.33 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• WNY Asset Management opened a new Alphabet position worth approximately $2.33 million, purchasing 8,084 shares during the first quarter. Institutional investors collectively own about 40.03% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Alphabet has an average “Buy” rating and an average price target of $419.86, despite one recent downgrade to “Hold.”
• Alphabet reported quarterly EPS of $9.11 and revenue of $119.8 billion, exceeding analyst estimates. Shares opened at $354.30, while recent insider sales totaled approximately $16.3 million over 90 days.

WNY Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,084 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,325,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. EMC Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co raised its stake in Alphabet by 142.9% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. BMO Capital Markets set a $465.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $419.86.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 600,547 shares of company stock valued at $16,255,540 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue reportedly increased 82% in the second quarter, with backlog reaching $514 billion, while the Gemini app reached approximately 950 million monthly active users. The results reinforce the commercial demand supporting Alphabet’s AI and cloud investments. Google's AI business is booming, so why are DeepMind's biggest names quitting?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to highlight Alphabet’s strong cash generation, balance sheet and valuation relative to its growth prospects. Some market models see the shares reaching $400 as Cloud momentum and AI monetization continue. Price Prediction: Google Will Hit $400 on This Date
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s expanded Google Cloud partnership with AI lab Mirendil, reportedly worth more than $100 million over multiple years, provides another example of demand for its computing infrastructure. Mirendil Google Cloud deal

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $354.30 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.60 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $355.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $340.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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