Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Holdings Lifted by Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,392 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,890 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.9% of Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,534,239,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $4,338,397,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 855.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,546,413,000 after buying an additional 13,004,828 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 worth $165,567,398,000 after buying an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in Alphabet by 28.0% in the third 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. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. President Capital upped their target price on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Dbs Bank increased their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, CICC Research lifted their price target on Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.54.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are highlighting Alphabet as a top AI stock, with billionaire Jeffrey Talpins reportedly naming it a preferred AI idea, reinforcing confidence in the company’s long-term AI upside. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Is A Top AI Stock To Buy According To Billionaire Jeffrey Talpins
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud is being touted as a major growth engine, with commentary suggesting it may be “driving the train” for Alphabet thanks to strong cloud momentum and a large backlog, which supports the bull case for revenue and margin expansion. Is Google Cloud Officially Driving the Train?
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was featured as a “final trade” on CNBC, and several bullish pieces point to continued investor interest in the stock after strong gains over the past year. Netflix, Alphabet, Nike And A Consumer Defensive Stock On CNBC’s ‘Final Trades’
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles noting Alphabet’s strong stock performance and asking whether it is too late to buy may keep the stock in focus, but they mainly reflect momentum rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Down Over 10% From Its All-Time High, Is Now the Perfect Time to Buy Alphabet Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure remains a drag after Europe’s final €4.1 billion Android antitrust ruling, which adds to legal risk around Alphabet’s mobile and search ecosystem. Alphabet (GOOGL) Faces Final €4.1b Android Antitrust Ruling In Europe
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy-related reporting that Google is expanding AI training using user-uploaded media could raise user trust and regulatory concerns, even if it also supports AI model development. If you use Google, you’re training its AI. Here’s how to opt out.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $5.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $371.61. 4,065,557 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,626,334. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $371.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $334.60. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $172.77 and a 1-year high of $408.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business’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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Profile

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.