Stronghold Wealth Management L.L.C. Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Stronghold Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,551 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $798,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.2% of Stronghold Wealth Management L.L.C.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $368.53 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.00 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $352.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $327.81. The company has a market cap of $4.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current 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 6.41%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet secured a major cloud deal with SpaceX, adding a high-profile customer and boosting the investment case for its AI infrastructure business. SpaceX signs cloud deal with Google
• Positive Sentiment: New Street Research raised its price target on Alphabet to $455 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports said Google’s AI search and chatbot products faced criticism after an audit found many chatbot responses on elections were flawed, which may keep pressure on Alphabet’s AI credibility. Over 90% of AI chatbot answers about midterm elections are flawed, stunning analysis shows
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s large equity raise and higher AI capex guidance are still weighing on sentiment because investors are questioning how quickly those investments will pay off. Alphabet is seeking fresh capital as stock’s 4-week losing streak tests investor appetite
• Negative Sentiment: Google also faces regulatory pressure in the UK over publisher-content rules in AI search, adding another policy risk for the business. Google search facing UK ‘conduct requirement’

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. New Street Research lifted their price target on Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.13.

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.