Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 7,063 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Wright Investors Service cut its stake in Alphabet by 14.1%, selling 7,063 shares and leaving it with 43,001 shares worth about $13.46 million (4.0% of the fund and its 4th-largest position).
• Alphabet reported strong Q1 results—EPS $5.11 and revenue $109.9B—with Google Cloud up ~63% to >$20B, prompting multiple broker upgrades and a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $397.48.
• Insiders have been selling recently (CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares for ~$10.0M; insiders sold ~191,986 shares worth ~$59.16M in the last 90 days), while Alphabet also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22.

Wright Investors Service Inc. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,001 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,063 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 4.0% of Wright Investors Service Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Members Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,489,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. White Wing Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,155 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantum Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,799 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,693,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. China Renaissance boosted their price target on Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $397.48.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings & Google Cloud surge — Alphabet beat on EPS and revenue; Google Cloud grew ~63% to >$20B and backlog jumped near $460B, underpinning earnings momentum and revenue visibility. Alphabet’s Earnings Didn’t Just Beat—They Changed the Story
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street re-rating — Dozens of brokers raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views (Goldman, JPMorgan, Citi, Canaccord, etc.), lifting upside expectations and supporting momentum. JPMorgan price target note
• Positive Sentiment: Product & monetization catalysts — Gemini rollout into millions of vehicles and comments about ads in AI-driven Search/Gemini expand potential ad & cloud monetization paths. Google's Gemini hits cars
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial & government demand — The Pentagon signed agreements with leading AI vendors (including Google) to deploy AI tools on classified networks, validating enterprise/government demand for secure AI infrastructure. Pentagon AI agreements
• Positive Sentiment: Market narrative uplift — Coverage arguing Alphabet could challenge Nvidia for top market-cap status and that Google is “winning” the AI cycle is driving momentum flows and investor positioning. Barron's: The First $6 Trillion Company May Not Be Nvidia
• Neutral Sentiment: CapEx trajectory — Management signaled materially higher CapEx into 2027 to support AI/data centers; that supports future growth but raises near-term investment intensity and cash needs. Seeking Alpha: CapEx concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk — European scrutiny is rising: Italy asked the EU to investigate Google’s AI search features and Swiss regulators opened probes related to keyword bidding; these could lead to fines, remedies or product constraints. Italy asks EU to investigate Google AI search Switzerland probe

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total value of $348,232.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,187,638.65. This trade represents a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 191,986 shares of company stock valued at $59,159,207 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $385.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $4.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.12. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.84 and a fifty-two week high of $386.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $313.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $307.81.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

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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