ARS Investment Partners LLC Sells 2,350 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

ARS Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,087 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,350 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lexington Hill Partners LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 84.8% during the 1st quarter. Lexington Hill Partners LLC now owns 2,807 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Genesis Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.0% in the first quarter. Genesis Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.2% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 122,824 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,233,000 after purchasing an additional 10,359 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 87.5% in the first quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,769 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,516,000 after purchasing an additional 4,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Solitude Financial Services increased its position in Alphabet by 142.7% in the first quarter. Solitude Financial Services now owns 5,547 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 3,261 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 160,516 shares of company stock valued at $7,344,604. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $430.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.78.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Key AI researchers have left Alphabet for competitors, intensifying worries that the company is losing critical talent needed to lead in generative AI. Reuters: Google DeepMind signs AI research deal with film studio A24
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also worried that Alphabet’s aggressive AI spending plans, including a large equity raise to fund infrastructure and compute, could dilute shareholders and pressure free cash flow. Quiver Quantitative: Alphabet Slides as AI Funding Plan Fuels Dilution Worries
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also announced a $75 million AI research partnership with A24, showing it is still investing in new AI use cases, but this was overshadowed by the talent-loss narrative. TechCrunch: Google DeepMind bets $75M on AI’s future in Hollywood with A24 deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain strong, with Alphabet’s latest quarter beating expectations on both earnings and revenue, which helps offset some of the negative sentiment. Alphabet stock page

Alphabet Trading Down 5.1%

Shares of GOOG opened at $348.78 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $364.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.41. The company has a market cap of $4.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.23. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.33 and a twelve month high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.81 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 6.71%.

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.