Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by NFJ Investment Group LLC

NFJ Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 267,877 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 69,748 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 3.0% of NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $83,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $52,000. Kentucky Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. New Street Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Evercore lifted their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.7%

Alphabet stock opened at $369.35 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $361.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $330.66. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.00 and a twelve month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. 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. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.71%.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google’s legal action against an AI-enabled scam network highlights Alphabet’s role in fighting online fraud and may strengthen trust in its security ecosystem. AI Scam Surge Prompts Google to File Lawsuit
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Alphabet as a key AI winner, with Gemini, cloud spending, and enterprise demand seen as long-term growth drivers. 3 AI Stocks Poised for Long-Term Gains Despite Strong Year-to-Date Performance
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s increased stake in Alphabet adds a high-profile endorsement and suggests long-term confidence in the stock’s AI and platform value. Berkshire Hathaway’s Greg Abel Just Made a Big Bet on Who Will Win the AI Races

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,966 shares of company stock worth $16,963,968. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.