GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Buys 1,708 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 26,371 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,708 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Symmetry Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Members Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,489,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Insight 2811 Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,274,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s addition to the Dow Jones Industrial Average is boosting visibility and may increase index-related demand for GOOGL. Alphabet debuts in Dow Jones Industrial Average as index tilts toward tech
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s Nano Banana 2 Lite launch could strengthen its AI product lineup by offering a faster, cheaper creation tool. Google introduces a faster, cheaper image generator with Nano Banana 2 Lite
• Positive Sentiment: Visa and Google signing onto OpenUSD expands Alphabet’s footprint in digital payments infrastructure. Visa and Google Sign on to Use Money Movement Stablecoin OpenUSD
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent insider stock sales by Alphabet directors and executives appear routine and are not large enough on their own to change the investment thesis. Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock
• Negative Sentiment: A Swedish court ordered Google to pay damages in an antitrust case, reinforcing legal risk around its shopping and search practices. Swedish court orders Google pay $1.46 bn for favoring its price comparisons
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulators are moving against app-store fees and payment restrictions, which could pressure Google’s app platform economics. UK targets Apple, Google app store fees for developers

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511 over the last 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 29th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Evercore upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.90.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $361.21 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $370.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $333.88. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $172.77 and a 1 year high of $408.61. 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 capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.71%.

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.