Alphabet Inc. $GOOG is East Coast Asset Management LLC.’s Largest Position

East Coast Asset Management LLC. lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 196,119 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,099 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 18.1% of East Coast Asset Management LLC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. East Coast Asset Management LLC.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $61,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $132,114,125,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $58,712,878,000 after purchasing an additional 953,790 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,569,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,151 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 71,841,419 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,543,838,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,013 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $435.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $376.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 159,466 shares of company stock valued at $6,957,543 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.4%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $362.10 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $361.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $330.47. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.33 and a 12 month high of $404.47. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Britain’s competition watchdog set new requirements for Google Search, demanding greater transparency in ranking results and fairer treatment for businesses, adding to global regulatory scrutiny that could pressure Alphabet’s core search business. UK regulator sets out conduct requirements for Google’s search services
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains cautious, with concerns about Alphabet’s high AI spending, heavy capital expenditures, competition, and valuation limiting enthusiasm despite strong growth prospects. AI Spending Is Strengthening the Alphabet (GOOGL) Bull Case
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet showcased more AI momentum at the G7, where Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis backed a U.S.-led AI coalition, reinforcing the company’s influence in frontier AI policy and investment discussions. CEOs of Anthropic and Google DeepMind call for U.S.-led AI coalition in meeting at G7
• Neutral Sentiment: Google also launched Android 17 and a new Gemini-focused smart speaker, highlighting ongoing product innovation that could support long-term ecosystem growth but is not an immediate earnings catalyst. Google bets on Gemini to reinvent the smart home speaker
• Positive Sentiment: HSBC expanded its partnership with Google Cloud to grow AI usage, a sign that Alphabet’s cloud and enterprise AI business continues to gain traction with major customers. HSBC partners with Google Cloud to expand AI usage
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is also expanding its physical and digital footprint, including a $1.5 billion Alabama data center investment and new Google-supported initiatives, which support the company’s AI infrastructure buildout. Alphabet (GOOGL) to Spend $1.5 Billion Expanding Alabama Data Center

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.