Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Sells 7,316 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 67,737 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,316 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 3.0% of Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $368.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $352.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $327.81. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549 over the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $445.00 price objective (up from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Arete Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Two 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.13.

Trending Headlines about 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’

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.