Alta Capital Management LLC Sells 141,080 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Alta Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 400,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 141,080 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 8.4% of Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $125,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,338,397,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after buying an additional 12,531,695 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Alphabet by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after buying an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Alphabet by 15.7% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 6,874,381 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Cayman LP increased its stake in Alphabet by 23,402.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 6,118,547 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,487,419,000 after buying an additional 6,092,513 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,132,701. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 29th. China Renaissance upped their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $445.00 price objective (up from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet secured a major cloud deal with SpaceX, adding a high-profile customer and boosting the investment case for its AI infrastructure business. SpaceX signs cloud deal with Google
• Positive Sentiment: New Street Research raised its price target on Alphabet to $455 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports said Google’s AI search and chatbot products faced criticism after an audit found many chatbot responses on elections were flawed, which may keep pressure on Alphabet’s AI credibility. Over 90% of AI chatbot answers about midterm elections are flawed, stunning analysis shows
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s large equity raise and higher AI capex guidance are still weighing on sentiment because investors are questioning how quickly those investments will pay off. Alphabet is seeking fresh capital as stock’s 4-week losing streak tests investor appetite
• Negative Sentiment: Google also faces regulatory pressure in the UK over publisher-content rules in AI search, adding another policy risk for the business. Google search facing UK ‘conduct requirement’

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $368.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23. 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 price is $352.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $327.81. 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 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. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

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.