Baupost Group LLC MA Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Baupost Group LLC MA trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 41.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,087,181 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 770,957 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 6.5% of Baupost Group LLC MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Baupost Group LLC MA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $341,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its stake in Alphabet by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $435.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Five equities 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at $7,132,701. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s drone-delivery unit Wing expanded into seven more U.S. cities with Walmart, reinforcing that its Other Bets can scale into real businesses and may be more valuable than the market gives them credit for.
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo launched a $29.99 monthly membership program, adding a recurring-revenue layer to its robotaxi business and highlighting rapid growth in paid rides, which investors may see as a meaningful long-term opportunity.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst and commentary pieces remain constructive on Alphabet’s AI, cloud, and search setup, with some calling it an AI powerhouse and lifting price targets, which supports the stock’s bullish narrative.
• Positive Sentiment: Google is also expanding its real-estate listings nationwide and continuing to deepen its AI infrastructure and chip strategy, reinforcing multiple growth avenues beyond search advertising.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google filed suit against an alleged Chinese cybercrime group that used AI to scam victims, a move that shows the company is actively defending its platforms, though the stock impact is likely limited unless the issue escalates.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet declined a $2 billion U.S. quantum-computing funding program, saying the terms could slow development; that may be viewed as a strategic choice rather than a major financial event.
• Neutral Sentiment: News that some billionaire investors sold Alphabet in Q1 while others bought more adds to the debate, but it does not change the underlying business fundamentals by itself.
• Negative Sentiment: Some recent coverage continues to focus on worries about rising capital expenditures and AI monetization, which can pressure sentiment if investors fear Alphabet’s AI spending will take longer to pay off.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI Overview feature has also faced renewed controversy, adding another small overhang around search quality and user trust.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4%

GOOG stock opened at $358.16 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.33 and a 1-year high of $404.47. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $357.71 and its 200-day moving average is $329.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company’s revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.81 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Alphabet Company 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.