Leelyn Smith LLC Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Leelyn Smith LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,824 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,438 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.7% of Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY raised its position in Alphabet by 17.6% during the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.2% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $85,557,000 after purchasing an additional 48,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet unveiled upcoming AI-powered bidding and budget-pacing tools for Google Ads, which could make Search and Shopping advertising more efficient and attractive for advertisers. Google AI Automates Ad Bidding and Budget Pacing
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts raised price targets on Alphabet, including DBS Bank to $460 and other firms lifting estimates after the company’s earnings beat, reinforcing the view that results remain stronger than expected. DBS Bank Adjusts Price Target on Alphabet to 460
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s partnership with OTB Group on a generative-AI virtual try-on experience adds to the narrative that Alphabet can monetize AI across enterprise and retail use cases. Google Cloud Partners With OTB Group
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted strong investor appetite for AI leaders such as Google, and recent coverage continues to frame Alphabet as one of the main beneficiaries of the AI spending cycle. Google, Broadcom Drive Delirious Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reports on Google’s AI “agent” efforts and AI search features suggest Alphabet is expanding its product lead in next-generation search and automation tools. Meta, Google enter AI agent race
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also getting more time to address EU regulators’ concerns in an ongoing antitrust investigation, which removes some immediate pressure but does not eliminate the legal overhang. Google Gets More Time in EU Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Google faces a new UK lawsuit over online display ads, adding another antitrust/legal risk that could weigh on sentiment if regulatory scrutiny intensifies. Google Faces New UK Lawsuit Over Online Display Ads

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total value of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares in the company, valued at $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total value of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,187,638.65. This trade represents a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock worth $47,951,856. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7%

GOOGL stock opened at $400.69 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $318.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $311.72. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $152.20 and a 12 month high of $402.00. The company has a market cap of $4.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. President Capital boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on Alphabet from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $407.86.

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.