William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) by 26.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,154,973 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 668,971 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 2.8% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $987,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Arete Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.13.
More Alphabet News
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 Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $352.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $327.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.00 and a 52-week high of $408.61.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.41%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.
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.
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