Premier Fund Managers Ltd Sells 35,354 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Premier Fund Managers Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 31.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 78,669 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 35,354 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.4% of Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 20,460 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,404,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 615,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $192,565,000 after buying an additional 11,440 shares in the last quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $972,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management grew its holdings in Alphabet by 119.2% during the fourth quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 14,715 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,606,000 after buying an additional 8,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ponta Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $3,171,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is being highlighted as a strong AI investment thanks to its vertically integrated AI stack and cloud growth, which some analysts say could help it compete effectively in the booming AI data center market.
• Positive Sentiment: Google rolled out new AI-powered ad products at Marketing Live, including Gemini-based ad formats and AI search checkout tools, which could expand ad monetization and strengthen its core advertising business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Alphabet may invest up to $190 billion by 2026 underscore its aggressive push into AI and infrastructure, signaling continued long-term spending to defend and grow its leadership position.
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage suggesting Alphabet has the tools to win the AI race and remains a top-ranked growth stock may be reinforcing investor confidence in the company’s earnings and strategic outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s Waymo unit faced service interruptions in some cities due to flooded roads and construction zones, a reminder that the autonomous driving business still has operational hurdles.
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around Google’s AI security challenges and its smart-glasses partnerships adds to the long-term innovation story, but these developments are not likely to move the stock immediately.
• Negative Sentiment: The European Union is reportedly preparing to fine Google a high triple-digit million-euro amount as part of an antitrust investigation, increasing regulatory risk for Alphabet’s core business and pressuring sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Google is also appealing a court ruling tied to its search monopoly, keeping antitrust uncertainty alive for investors focused on the durability of its search dominance.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on Alphabet from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $412.65.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $382.97 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $162.00 and a one year high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $339.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $322.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.