Nicola Wealth Management LTD. Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Nicola Wealth Management LTD. trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 43.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 21,000 shares during the period. Nicola Wealth Management LTD.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $69,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. CICC Research lifted their price target on Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Two equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was 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 $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet secured a major cloud deal with SpaceX, adding a high-profile customer and boosting the investment case for its AI infrastructure business. SpaceX signs cloud deal with Google
• Positive Sentiment: New Street Research raised its price target on Alphabet to $455 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports said Google’s AI search and chatbot products faced criticism after an audit found many chatbot responses on elections were flawed, which may keep pressure on Alphabet’s AI credibility. Over 90% of AI chatbot answers about midterm elections are flawed, stunning analysis shows
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s large equity raise and higher AI capex guidance are still weighing on sentiment because investors are questioning how quickly those investments will pay off. Alphabet is seeking fresh capital as stock’s 4-week losing streak tests investor appetite
• Negative Sentiment: Google also faces regulatory pressure in the UK over publisher-content rules in AI search, adding another policy risk for the business. Google search facing UK ‘conduct requirement’

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $368.53 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $352.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $328.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $162.00 and a one year high of $408.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.22 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

About Alphabet

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.