Simon Quick Advisors LLC Acquires 4,368 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 21.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,368 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,910,542,000 after buying an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $12,333,076,000 after buying an additional 6,874,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,186,112 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,984,744,000 after buying an additional 1,034,292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,908,391. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 157,953 shares of company stock valued at $47,767,818 over the last quarter. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is being viewed as a major AI winner, with multiple reports highlighting strong demand for its infrastructure, cloud, and Gemini AI efforts as hyperscalers pour capital into AI. Hyperscalers Now Competing With US Treasury for Capital, Driving Up Government Borrowing Costs
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s stock has been re-rated higher by the market, with analysts and commentators pointing to a stronger valuation profile and improved confidence in its earnings power. Why The Market Is Re-Rating Google Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google Pay partnership with Affirm could broaden monetization and make Google’s payments ecosystem more attractive to consumers and merchants. Affirm’s Google Deal Aims for Your Wallet (GOOGL)
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Alphabet is gaining momentum in government AI contracts, which could open a new high-value revenue stream and help diversify away from ads. Why Palantir Suddenly Looks Vulnerable After Google’s Move

Alphabet Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $401.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $327.43 and its 200 day moving average is $316.71. The company has a market cap of $4.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.00 and a 1 year high of $403.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Dbs Bank lifted their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective (up from $360.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Alphabet from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $407.86.

About Alphabet

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.