Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Position Reduced by Suncoast Equity Management

Suncoast Equity Management lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,022 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 52,846 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 5.6% of Suncoast Equity Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $55,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 29,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,381,000 after buying an additional 2,341 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 221,391 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,920,000 after buying an additional 2,009 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 60,739 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,060,000 after buying an additional 4,239 shares during the period. Steginsky Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Steginsky Capital LLC now owns 680,588 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,757,000 after buying an additional 6,523 shares during the period. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 157,393 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $38,333,000 after buying an additional 18,881 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $376.78.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $362.29 on Wednesday. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $353.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $328.39. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.63, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.33 and a 52-week high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.81 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Gemini usage growth and strong Google Cloud momentum suggest Alphabet’s AI strategy is gaining traction and could support future revenue growth.
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its price target to $475 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence in Alphabet’s upside.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to view Alphabet as a long-term compounder with durable Search cash flow plus cloud and AI expansion. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s new capital-raising and AI infrastructure spending plans could help fund growth, but they also create uncertainty about near-term cash flow and dilution.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Alphabet is paying SpaceX about $920 million per month for AI compute add to concerns that the company is leaning on outside infrastructure to meet AI demand, increasing costs in the near term.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary suggests investors are worried that elevated AI capex could pressure margins if the payoff from AI products takes longer than expected.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.