Value Partners Investments Inc. Sells 60,407 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Value Partners Investments Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 22.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 213,661 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 60,407 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 4.7% of Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $61,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,625,595,000 after buying an additional 2,666,676 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Alphabet by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $21,630,861,000 after buying an additional 3,218,852 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several recent stories highlight Alphabet’s AI and cloud momentum, including Google Cloud traction with enterprise customers like Jack Henry and growing use of Google’s cloud tech by Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo, which supports the bull case for future growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer argued that Alphabet still looks cheap, reinforcing a valuation-supportive narrative for GOOGL after its pullback. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with Wells Fargo keeping an overweight rating and multiple analysts maintaining buy recommendations, which may help support the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s insider selling by John Kent Walker appears routine and is not, by itself, a major fundamental concern for investors. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Alphabet’s growing role in AI-powered shopping, robotaxis, and other ecosystem developments adds to the long-term story, but these are more thesis-supportive than immediate catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The biggest drag is the EU Supreme Court decision upholding Alphabet’s €4.1 billion Android antitrust fine, which reinforces legal and regulatory overhangs for the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A separate Swedish court ruling ordered Alphabet to pay nearly $2 billion in a price-comparison dispute, adding to the sense that antitrust and competition risks remain active. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. CICC Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. China Renaissance upped their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.54.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $359.91 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $172.77 and a 12-month high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $371.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $334.41.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 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 firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were 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 approximately $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

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.