Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Alley Investment Management Company LLC’s Largest Position

Alley Investment Management Company LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 112,879 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,409 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 4.0% of Alley Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Alley Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4%

Alphabet stock opened at $361.92 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $172.77 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.61, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $372.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $335.93.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Waymo plans to expand driverless rides to four more major cities this year, with a phased rollout that could broaden Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle opportunity and reinforce its leadership in robotaxis. Waymo Plans to Expand Driverless Cars to 4 More Major Cities This Year
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to be highlighted as a beneficiary of massive AI infrastructure spending, with analysts pointing to strong demand for cloud expansion, data centers, and AI hardware. 3 Top-Ranked Stocks Riding on Massive AI Infrastructure Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was cited as an indirect way to gain exposure to Anthropic ahead of a possible IPO, since the company already holds a major private stake in the AI startup. Want Anthropic Exposure Before the IPO? These 2 AI Giants Are Already There (GOOGL)
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly added a $10 billion private placement investment in Alphabet, a sign of institutional confidence that could support sentiment in the stock. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Successor, Greg Abel, Just Bought More of This Magnificent Tech Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Cognizant deepened its Google Cloud partnership to accelerate enterprise AI adoption, which underscores Alphabet’s cloud relevance but is not a direct financial catalyst by itself. Cognizant Strengthens AI Portfolio Through Google Cloud Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s upcoming Pixel launch event on August 12 keeps hardware in view, but this is more of a product-calendar reminder than an immediate stock-moving catalyst. Google’s Pixel event is set for August 12
• Negative Sentiment: Google updated the Chrome Web Store to ban prediction market transactions, a policy move that may be seen as restrictive and could attract backlash from affected users and developers. Google Bans Prediction Market Transactions Amid Backlash
• Negative Sentiment: One article noted Alphabet shares were already slipping versus the broader market, adding to the intraday weakness as traders weigh valuation and AI competition concerns. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Sees a More Significant Dip Than Broader Market: Some Facts to Know

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $435.00 to $416.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. China Renaissance lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. President Capital boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $393.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $430.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511 in the last 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.