Frances Arnold Sells 102 Shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) 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 transaction, the director owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,132,701. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Frances Arnold also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, April 30th, Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total transaction of $37,842.00.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $361.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.00 and a 1 year high of $408.61. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $347.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $325.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced 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 during 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, February 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Arete Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.04.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s $10 billion investment signals strong outside confidence in Alphabet’s AI and cloud strategy. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion for AI goals, Berkshire to invest $10 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to argue that Alphabet remains a high-margin cash generator with attractive long-term earnings power. Google: AI Skeptics Proven Wrong as Business Booms
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of Alphabet’s expanding AI coding, hardware, and device strategy highlights broader growth opportunities, but it is not the main driver of today’s move. Microsoft and Google are late to AI coding, but ‘absolutely critical’ they compete for growth
• Negative Sentiment: The proposed $80 billion stock sale raises dilution concerns and underscores how expensive Alphabet’s AI race has become. Exclusive: EU cloud rules to curb Amazon, Google access to strategic tenders, draft document shows
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that EU cloud rules could restrict Google’s access to strategic government tenders add a regulatory overhang for the cloud business. Alphabet to raise $80 billion in equity capital for AI spending

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Company 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.