Fisher Funds Management LTD Reduces Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Fisher Funds Management LTD reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 18.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 65,328 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 14,741 shares during the quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Ring Mountain Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC now owns 919 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC now owns 4,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet will join the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing Verizon, a move that should boost its visibility and could support index-fund demand. Google-Parent Alphabet to Replace Verizon in Dow Jones Industrial Average
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continued to point to Alphabet’s strong AI infrastructure demand and Google Cloud growth as reasons for long-term upside. Alphabet Rides on Accelerating AI Infrastructure Demand: What’s Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also announced a $75 million AI research partnership with film studio A24, underscoring continued experimentation with new AI use cases. Google DeepMind signs AI research deal with film studio A24
• Negative Sentiment: Investor sentiment weakened after reports that another top AI scientist, John Jumper, left DeepMind for Anthropic, adding to fears of an AI brain drain. Google’s YouTube settles with plaintiff ahead of second California trial over social media harm to children, attorneys say
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market coverage highlighted worries about Alphabet’s heavy AI capital spending and the dilution risk tied to its large equity raise, which has pressured the stock. Alphabet Slides as AI Funding Plan Fuels Dilution Worries

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $470.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $435.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 160,516 shares of company stock worth $7,344,604. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6%

Alphabet stock opened at $346.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $365.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $331.59. The company has a market capitalization of $4.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $166.91 and a 52 week high of $404.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 EPS. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Alphabet Company 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.