Concord Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 1,698 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Concord Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 62.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,029 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,698 shares during the period. Concord Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $323,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 34.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,438.5% in the fourth quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Optima Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $435.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.00.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet signed a major cloud-computing agreement with SpaceX, with reports putting the deal at about $920 million per month for 32 months, which could provide a meaningful revenue stream and reinforce demand for Google Cloud. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s municipal-bond debut drew strong investor demand, suggesting institutions still view the company as a high-quality borrower with flexible financing options. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors and analysts said the equity raise is a strategic move to accelerate AI infrastructure and may help Alphabet defend and expand its long-term leadership in search, cloud, and AI. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also appeared in commentary about AI-related partnerships, including potential indirect benefits from the SpaceX IPO and other cloud collaborations, but these are mostly longer-term strategic themes rather than immediate catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street coverage focused heavily on Alphabet’s expanding capital expenditures, with some commentators warning that the AI buildout may be getting too expensive and could pressure free cash flow. Article Title

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $365.76 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.33 and a 12 month high of $404.47. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $350.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $327.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast 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 given a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

About Alphabet

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.