Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Saratoga Research & Investment Management

Saratoga Research & Investment Management lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 719,847 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 69,321 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 11.8% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $225,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $63,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 in the last 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $372.19 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.00 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $351.15 and a 200-day moving average of $327.52. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet raised its capital plan to $84.75 billion to fund AI infrastructure and cloud capacity, signaling it expects strong demand for compute and is willing to invest heavily to protect and grow its long-term AI position. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly tapped Google Cloud to help power a revamped Siri, which could add a high-profile customer for Alphabet’s cloud business and reinforce its AI infrastructure monetization story. PYMNTS article
• Positive Sentiment: Lovable expanded its multi-year Google Cloud relationship, another sign that Google Cloud is winning AI-related usage and customer growth. TechCrunch article
• Positive Sentiment: Needham reiterated a buy rating and a $450 price target, reflecting continued analyst confidence in Alphabet’s cloud and AI growth potential. Benzinga article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several prominent investors, including Berkshire Hathaway and ARK, were reported as buying Alphabet shares, which supports sentiment but does not change fundamentals on its own. Barron’s article
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also received a softer-than-feared UK antitrust ruling that requires new conduct changes and lets publishers opt out of AI training, which may limit some data use but reduces the risk of a harsher regulatory outcome. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Google is quietly laying off staff in Cloud, including parts of its cybersecurity team, may weigh on sentiment by raising questions about cost discipline and internal restructuring. Business Insider article

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Freedom Capital cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $445.00 price target (up from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.04.

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.