Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,336,106 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,803 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $731,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Alphabet by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 580,828 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $181,799,000 after purchasing an additional 47,766 shares during the last quarter. LHM Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $7,083,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 536,431 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $167,903,000 after purchasing an additional 25,531 shares during the period. Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 100.3% during the fourth quarter. Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. now owns 38,442 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,489,000 after purchasing an additional 19,253 shares during the period. Finally, CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,925 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,107,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several research reports. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Phillip Securities boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Gemini app reportedly doubled its monthly users to 900 million, reinforcing the company’s momentum in consumer AI and supporting the case that its AI investments are translating into real usage.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remains constructive, with one report citing TD Cowen’s view that Alphabet could rise further by 2027, reflecting ongoing confidence in its earnings power and AI/cloud growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was highlighted as a long-term value-and-growth story, with its search cash engine funding a growing cloud and AI franchise at what some analysts view as an attractive valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s recent convertible preferred offering and related financing coverage suggest it still has strong access to capital as it expands AI infrastructure, which can help fund growth initiatives.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s large AI spending plans remain a key debate, with some analysts warning that rising capex could weigh on near-term profitability even if it supports future growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position change, so it does not appear to be a major driver of the stock move.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports linking Alphabet to major AI compute deals and supplier arrangements, including Google Cloud usage by other tech firms, reinforce its strategic importance in AI but are not directly tied to near-term earnings.
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles focus on pressure from Alphabet’s aggressive AI infrastructure spending, including concerns that capex could compress margins and make investors more cautious about the stock’s high expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: One report specifically warned that Alphabet’s net profit margin deserves closer scrutiny after the stock’s strong run, suggesting investors may be increasingly sensitive to any slowdown in profitability.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $364.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $356.15 and a 200 day moving average of $329.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.00 and a twelve month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Alphabet 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.