Easterly Investment Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Easterly Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 48.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 29.0% in the third quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 258 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,438.5% in the fourth quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $362.29 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $353.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $328.39. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.33 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Gemini usage growth and strong Google Cloud momentum suggest Alphabet’s AI strategy is gaining traction and could support future revenue growth.
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its price target to $475 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence in Alphabet’s upside.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to view Alphabet as a long-term compounder with durable Search cash flow plus cloud and AI expansion. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s new capital-raising and AI infrastructure spending plans could help fund growth, but they also create uncertainty about near-term cash flow and dilution.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Alphabet is paying SpaceX about $920 million per month for AI compute add to concerns that the company is leaning on outside infrastructure to meet AI demand, increasing costs in the near term.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary suggests investors are worried that elevated AI capex could pressure margins if the payoff from AI products takes longer than expected.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $348.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $435.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $376.78.

About Alphabet

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.