Columbia Asset Management Sells 3,399 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Columbia Asset Management lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 77,166 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,399 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 4.3% of Columbia Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $63,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective (up from $360.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $407.86.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total value of $348,232.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,187,638.65. The trade was a 22.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet unveiled upcoming AI-powered bidding and budget-pacing tools for Google Ads, which could make Search and Shopping advertising more efficient and attractive for advertisers. Google AI Automates Ad Bidding and Budget Pacing
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts raised price targets on Alphabet, including DBS Bank to $460 and other firms lifting estimates after the company’s earnings beat, reinforcing the view that results remain stronger than expected. DBS Bank Adjusts Price Target on Alphabet to 460
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s partnership with OTB Group on a generative-AI virtual try-on experience adds to the narrative that Alphabet can monetize AI across enterprise and retail use cases. Google Cloud Partners With OTB Group
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted strong investor appetite for AI leaders such as Google, and recent coverage continues to frame Alphabet as one of the main beneficiaries of the AI spending cycle. Google, Broadcom Drive Delirious Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reports on Google’s AI “agent” efforts and AI search features suggest Alphabet is expanding its product lead in next-generation search and automation tools. Meta, Google enter AI agent race
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also getting more time to address EU regulators’ concerns in an ongoing antitrust investigation, which removes some immediate pressure but does not eliminate the legal overhang. Google Gets More Time in EU Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Google faces a new UK lawsuit over online display ads, adding another antitrust/legal risk that could weigh on sentiment if regulatory scrutiny intensifies. Google Faces New UK Lawsuit Over Online Display Ads

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $400.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market cap of $4.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $318.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $311.72. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $152.20 and a 1-year high of $402.00.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Alphabet Company 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.