Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Stake Trimmed by Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 479,707 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 20,397 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.9% of Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $150,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its position in Alphabet by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 258 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1,438.5% in the 4th quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $470.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.78.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $362.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.63, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $353.44 and its 200 day moving average is $328.39. 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 52-week low of $163.33 and a 52-week high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Gemini usage growth and strong Google Cloud momentum suggest Alphabet’s AI strategy is gaining traction and could support future revenue growth.
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its price target to $475 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence in Alphabet’s upside.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to view Alphabet as a long-term compounder with durable Search cash flow plus cloud and AI expansion. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s new capital-raising and AI infrastructure spending plans could help fund growth, but they also create uncertainty about near-term cash flow and dilution.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Alphabet is paying SpaceX about $920 million per month for AI compute add to concerns that the company is leaning on outside infrastructure to meet AI demand, increasing costs in the near term.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary suggests investors are worried that elevated AI capex could pressure margins if the payoff from AI products takes longer than expected.

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.