Wendell David Associates Inc. Sells 2,663 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Wendell David Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,018 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,663 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.5% of Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. China Renaissance upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. New Street Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.54.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Waymo plans to expand driverless rides to four more major cities this year, with a phased rollout that could broaden Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle opportunity and reinforce its leadership in robotaxis. Waymo Plans to Expand Driverless Cars to 4 More Major Cities This Year
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to be highlighted as a beneficiary of massive AI infrastructure spending, with analysts pointing to strong demand for cloud expansion, data centers, and AI hardware. 3 Top-Ranked Stocks Riding on Massive AI Infrastructure Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was cited as an indirect way to gain exposure to Anthropic ahead of a possible IPO, since the company already holds a major private stake in the AI startup. Want Anthropic Exposure Before the IPO? These 2 AI Giants Are Already There (GOOGL)
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly added a $10 billion private placement investment in Alphabet, a sign of institutional confidence that could support sentiment in the stock. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Successor, Greg Abel, Just Bought More of This Magnificent Tech Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Cognizant deepened its Google Cloud partnership to accelerate enterprise AI adoption, which underscores Alphabet’s cloud relevance but is not a direct financial catalyst by itself. Cognizant Strengthens AI Portfolio Through Google Cloud Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s upcoming Pixel launch event on August 12 keeps hardware in view, but this is more of a product-calendar reminder than an immediate stock-moving catalyst. Google’s Pixel event is set for August 12
• Negative Sentiment: Google updated the Chrome Web Store to ban prediction market transactions, a policy move that may be seen as restrictive and could attract backlash from affected users and developers. Google Bans Prediction Market Transactions Amid Backlash
• Negative Sentiment: One article noted Alphabet shares were already slipping versus the broader market, adding to the intraday weakness as traders weigh valuation and AI competition concerns. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Sees a More Significant Dip Than Broader Market: Some Facts to Know

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $361.92 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $372.28 and its 200 day moving average is $335.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $172.77 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

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.