Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by HS Management Partners LLC

HS Management Partners LLC cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 50.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 106,305 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 7.0% of HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its position in Alphabet by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1,438.5% during the 4th quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Optima Capital LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $79,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $376.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s $10 billion commitment to Alphabet supports the company’s AI strategy and signals strong long-term investor confidence. Berkshire invests extra $10 billion in Alphabet, deepening bet on AI
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts say Google remains a key beneficiary of AI search growth, suggesting its core search and ad business may hold up better than feared. Google Is the Clear Beneficiary,’ Says Top Analyst as AI Search Takes Off
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s stakes in private AI-related companies such as Anthropic and exposure to future IPO optionality may add long-term upside, but this is not a near-term catalyst. Alphabet Stock Offers Exposure To SpaceX, Anthropic Before IPOs
• Negative Sentiment: The $80 billion stock sale raised concerns about dilution and the rising cost of Alphabet’s AI expansion, which is pressuring sentiment in the stock. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion to pay for AI buildout
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported the EU may tighten cloud rules in strategic tenders, which could limit Google’s access to certain government contracts in Europe. EU cloud rules to curb Amazon, Google access to strategic tenders

Alphabet Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $358.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.34, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $344.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $325.11. 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 fifty-two week low of $163.33 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47.

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 return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share 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%.

Alphabet Profile

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.