Intrua Financial LLC Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Intrua Financial LLC cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 12.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,575 shares during the period. Intrua Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $416,217,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $277,696,000 after purchasing an additional 93,293 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 274,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $86,000,000 after purchasing an additional 23,107 shares in the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $28,902,000. Finally, Private Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,736,000 after buying an additional 2,678 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511 in the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Alphabet from $435.00 to $416.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.54.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of GOOGL traded up $5.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $371.61. The stock had a trading volume of 4,065,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,626,334. 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 market cap of $4.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $371.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $334.60. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $172.77 and a 12-month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. 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%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are highlighting Alphabet as a top AI stock, with billionaire Jeffrey Talpins reportedly naming it a preferred AI idea, reinforcing confidence in the company’s long-term AI upside. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Is A Top AI Stock To Buy According To Billionaire Jeffrey Talpins
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud is being touted as a major growth engine, with commentary suggesting it may be “driving the train” for Alphabet thanks to strong cloud momentum and a large backlog, which supports the bull case for revenue and margin expansion. Is Google Cloud Officially Driving the Train?
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was featured as a “final trade” on CNBC, and several bullish pieces point to continued investor interest in the stock after strong gains over the past year. Netflix, Alphabet, Nike And A Consumer Defensive Stock On CNBC’s ‘Final Trades’
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles noting Alphabet’s strong stock performance and asking whether it is too late to buy may keep the stock in focus, but they mainly reflect momentum rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Down Over 10% From Its All-Time High, Is Now the Perfect Time to Buy Alphabet Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure remains a drag after Europe’s final €4.1 billion Android antitrust ruling, which adds to legal risk around Alphabet’s mobile and search ecosystem. Alphabet (GOOGL) Faces Final €4.1b Android Antitrust Ruling In Europe
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy-related reporting that Google is expanding AI training using user-uploaded media could raise user trust and regulatory concerns, even if it also supports AI model development. If you use Google, you’re training its AI. Here’s how to opt out.

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.