Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Legacy Capital Group California Inc.

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 38.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,577 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,878 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A grew its stake in Alphabet by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of GOOG opened at $346.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $366.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $336.65. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $184.73 and a fifty-two 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The company 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 business’s quarterly revenue 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. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.71%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America and Wedbush remain bullish, with both highlighting strong cloud growth, AI monetization potential, and upside to the stock ahead of earnings. Alphabet could crush estimates on Cloud strength, Anthropic windfall: BofA
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors are still pointing to accelerating Google Search and Google Cloud growth, while retail interest and institutional ownership remain strong ahead of the July 22 report.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI and cloud businesses remain central to the bullish thesis, with multiple articles noting that the company could benefit from rising AI infrastructure spend and strong earnings expectations.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $416.00 price target on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Freedom Capital downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wedbush initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $445.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $383.44.

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.