Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Stock Position Trimmed by Bollard Group LLC

Bollard Group LLC lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 424,972 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 56,838 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 3.3% of Bollard Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Bollard Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $133,357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 1 North Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. 1 North Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 130.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,280,970 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,598,568,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680,460 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,761,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 41,541 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,036,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $328,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s drone-delivery unit Wing expanded into seven more U.S. cities with Walmart, reinforcing that its Other Bets can scale into real businesses and may be more valuable than the market gives them credit for.
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo launched a $29.99 monthly membership program, adding a recurring-revenue layer to its robotaxi business and highlighting rapid growth in paid rides, which investors may see as a meaningful long-term opportunity.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst and commentary pieces remain constructive on Alphabet’s AI, cloud, and search setup, with some calling it an AI powerhouse and lifting price targets, which supports the stock’s bullish narrative.
• Positive Sentiment: Google is also expanding its real-estate listings nationwide and continuing to deepen its AI infrastructure and chip strategy, reinforcing multiple growth avenues beyond search advertising.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google filed suit against an alleged Chinese cybercrime group that used AI to scam victims, a move that shows the company is actively defending its platforms, though the stock impact is likely limited unless the issue escalates.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet declined a $2 billion U.S. quantum-computing funding program, saying the terms could slow development; that may be viewed as a strategic choice rather than a major financial event.
• Neutral Sentiment: News that some billionaire investors sold Alphabet in Q1 while others bought more adds to the debate, but it does not change the underlying business fundamentals by itself.
• Negative Sentiment: Some recent coverage continues to focus on worries about rising capital expenditures and AI monetization, which can pressure sentiment if investors fear Alphabet’s AI spending will take longer to pay off.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI Overview feature has also faced renewed controversy, adding another small overhang around search quality and user trust.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $358.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.33 and a 1 year high of $404.47. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $357.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $329.44.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.81 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Freedom Capital lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $435.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Five research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $376.78.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business’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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Profile

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.