Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s Largest Position

Saratoga Research & Investment Management decreased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 719,847 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 69,321 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 11.8% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $225,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $372.19 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $162.00 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $351.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $327.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. 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 the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is currently 6.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. New Street Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.04.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet raised its capital plan to $84.75 billion to fund AI infrastructure and cloud capacity, signaling it expects strong demand for compute and is willing to invest heavily to protect and grow its long-term AI position. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly tapped Google Cloud to help power a revamped Siri, which could add a high-profile customer for Alphabet’s cloud business and reinforce its AI infrastructure monetization story. PYMNTS article
• Positive Sentiment: Lovable expanded its multi-year Google Cloud relationship, another sign that Google Cloud is winning AI-related usage and customer growth. TechCrunch article
• Positive Sentiment: Needham reiterated a buy rating and a $450 price target, reflecting continued analyst confidence in Alphabet’s cloud and AI growth potential. Benzinga article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several prominent investors, including Berkshire Hathaway and ARK, were reported as buying Alphabet shares, which supports sentiment but does not change fundamentals on its own. Barron’s article
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also received a softer-than-feared UK antitrust ruling that requires new conduct changes and lets publishers opt out of AI training, which may limit some data use but reduces the risk of a harsher regulatory outcome. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Google is quietly laying off staff in Cloud, including parts of its cybersecurity team, may weigh on sentiment by raising questions about cost discipline and internal restructuring. Business Insider article

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 over the last 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.