Magellan Asset Management Ltd Sells 30,107 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Magellan Asset Management Ltd trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 463,264 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 30,107 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.8% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $145,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 29,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,381,000 after purchasing an additional 2,341 shares in the last quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the third quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 221,391 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 60,739 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,060,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239 shares in the last quarter. Steginsky Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the third quarter. Steginsky Capital LLC now owns 680,588 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,757,000 after purchasing an additional 6,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 13.6% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 157,393 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,333,000 after purchasing an additional 18,881 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Freedom Capital lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.78.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $353.32 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $355.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $328.84. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.33 and a 12-month high of $404.47. 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 (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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding Gemini with new tools aimed at small businesses, which could help broaden adoption and monetize AI services. Google Debuts Gemini Features Geared to Small Businesses
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s support for Anthropic’s $35 billion AI infrastructure financing deal reinforces its central role in AI buildout and could boost cloud demand. Google Backs $35 Billion Anthropic AI Infrastructure Financing Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Gemini monthly users have doubled highlight strong product momentum and strengthen the long-term AI growth story. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Reports Doubling of Gemini App Monthly Users to 900 Million
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s reported $920 million-per-month AI compute deal with SpaceX may support future growth, but it also signals rising infrastructure spending and AI competition costs. Google’s $920 Million-a-Month Deal Could Supercharge the SpaceX IPO
• Negative Sentiment: A fire at a third-party data center caused intermittent Google Cloud disruptions in India, which could raise reliability concerns for some customers. Fire at third-party facility disrupts Google Cloud network traffic in India
• Negative Sentiment: A California judge denied Google’s request for a new trial in the youth social media addiction case, leaving legal liability concerns in place. Meta and Google denied new trial after landmark verdict in youth social media addiction case

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.