Choate Investment Advisors Reduces Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Choate Investment Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 299,810 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 11,772 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.8% of Choate Investment Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $93,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605,785 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 15.7% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,333,076,000 after acquiring an additional 6,874,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,186,112 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,984,744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $363.31 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.00 and a 1-year high of $408.61. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $354.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $328.67. The company has a market capitalization of $4.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.71, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. 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 $106.98 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 6.41%.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s long-term AI opportunity remains a major bullish theme, with analysts arguing the company’s heavy investment could support future revenue growth and strengthen its competitive position in search, cloud, and AI. Alphabet: CapEx Pressure Is Real, But The Long-Term AI Opportunity Is Bigger
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to benefit from broader AI enthusiasm, including reports that Apple is turning to Google for help with its AI overhaul and that Google’s cloud and AI capabilities are being tied to major customer wins and partnerships. Apple tries again on AI, turns to Google for help
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo remains a strategic asset for Alphabet, with new robotaxi-related developments highlighting the unit’s leadership in autonomous driving and potential to unlock long-term value. Uber, Wayve and Waymo are headed towards a robotaxi showdown in London
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is drawing investor attention after its latest earnings results showed strong quarterly performance, including earnings and revenue that beat expectations, which helps support the stock’s long-term valuation. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s dividend and other capital-return details are also getting attention, but these are unlikely to be the main driver of the stock’s move today. Google to pay dividends next week; Here’s how much 100 GOOGL shares will earn
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are sliding because investors appear worried that Alphabet’s expanding AI spending could pressure margins and require more capital than expected before those investments pay off. What’s Going On With Alphabet Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent market-wide volatility has also weighed on megacap tech stocks, adding to the weakness in Alphabet despite the company’s long-term AI story. Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock Slides as Market Rises: Facts to Know Before You Trade

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. President Capital upped their target price on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Company 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.