Ovata Capital Management Ltd Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Ovata Capital Management Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,400 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,900 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.4% of Ovata Capital Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Ovata Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after buying an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,240,469,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904,434 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $18,093,665,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,032,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,749,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,203 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,583,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,935,671,000 after purchasing an additional 223,743 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding Gemini with new tools aimed at small businesses, which could help broaden adoption and monetize AI services. Google Debuts Gemini Features Geared to Small Businesses
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s support for Anthropic’s $35 billion AI infrastructure financing deal reinforces its central role in AI buildout and could boost cloud demand. Google Backs $35 Billion Anthropic AI Infrastructure Financing Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Gemini monthly users have doubled highlight strong product momentum and strengthen the long-term AI growth story. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Reports Doubling of Gemini App Monthly Users to 900 Million
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s reported $920 million-per-month AI compute deal with SpaceX may support future growth, but it also signals rising infrastructure spending and AI competition costs. Google’s $920 Million-a-Month Deal Could Supercharge the SpaceX IPO
• Negative Sentiment: A fire at a third-party data center caused intermittent Google Cloud disruptions in India, which could raise reliability concerns for some customers. Fire at third-party facility disrupts Google Cloud network traffic in India
• Negative Sentiment: A California judge denied Google’s request for a new trial in the youth social media addiction case, leaving legal liability concerns in place. Meta and Google denied new trial after landmark verdict in youth social media addiction case

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $353.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $355.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $328.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.33 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS 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 business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $470.00 price target (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $435.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.