Vericrest Private Wealth Buys Shares of 1,654 Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Vericrest Private Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,654 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $518,000. Alphabet makes up about 0.5% of Vericrest Private Wealth’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Phillip Securities boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $349.68 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.00 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $367.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $332.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.23. 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:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results 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 firm 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at $7,132,701. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 160,516 shares of company stock worth $7,344,604. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet and DeepMind announced a new AI research partnership with film studio A24, including about $75 million of investment, showing continued efforts to commercialize AI in creative tools. Google DeepMind signs AI research deal with film studio A24
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive on Alphabet’s AI spending, arguing that its cloud growth and AI investments could still be monetized over time. Morgan Stanley sees monetization potential in Google AI spending
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s cloud business continues to grow quickly and remains a key long-term driver, but heavy AI spending is also increasing near-term cost concerns. Is Alphabet the Best “Magnificent Seven” AI Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet stock is falling more than the broader market as investors worry about a high-profile AI talent exodus from Google DeepMind and Gemini leadership. Alphabet paces for worst day in a year on AI concerns after high-profile exits
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Google DeepMind scientist John Jumper left for Anthropic added to fears that Alphabet is losing key AI researchers to competitors. Alphabet Is Now Cheaper Than What Berkshire Paid
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo’s recall of 3,871 robotaxis after a software glitch is another reminder that Alphabet’s autonomy business still faces execution risk. Waymo Just Recalled 3,800 Robotaxis. Is Google’s Self-Driving Dream Hitting a Wall?

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.