Jennison Associates LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG – Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,315,477 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 259,714 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.8% of Jennison Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,106,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $445.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $383.44.
Key Alphabet News
Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly building a custom AI server chip, “Frozen v2,” to run Gemini more efficiently and reduce compute costs, which could improve long-term margins and support cloud growth.
- Positive Sentiment: Alphabet released new Gemini model variants, including cheaper and cybersecurity-focused versions, signaling continued AI product progress ahead of earnings.
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive into earnings, with expectations for strong revenue growth and continued strength in Search and Google Cloud.
- Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are pricing in a meaningful post-earnings move, suggesting the stock could react sharply to Wednesday’s results either way.
- Neutral Sentiment: Senator Jerry Moran disclosed a purchase of GOOG shares, a modest signal of insider confidence but not a major market-moving catalyst.
- Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Alphabet’s large AI and data-center spending, and the delayed Gemini Pro launch is adding to questions about execution and AI payoff.
- Negative Sentiment: Ongoing securities-fraud investigations create additional headline risk and may weigh on sentiment ahead of earnings.
Alphabet Stock Performance
Shares of GOOG opened at $346.19 on Wednesday. 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 twelve month low of $188.49 and a twelve month high of $404.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $364.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $337.29. The firm has a market cap of $4.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.23.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.71%.
Insider Transactions at Alphabet
In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,656.24. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.
About Alphabet
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.
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