Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) CAO Sells $153,432.28 in Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was 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 directly owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at $9,345,358.56. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $356.18 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $4.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.17, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $173.88 and a 1 year high of $404.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $367.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $333.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $132,114,125,000 after buying an additional 8,128,234 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $58,712,878,000 after acquiring an additional 953,790 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,643,262,000 after acquiring an additional 179,369,280 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,569,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,151 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $376.19.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s core AI and cloud story remains strong, with new commentary pointing to continued enterprise adoption, including Google Cloud’s expanding role in financial services and other large customers. Reuters: Google disrupts NetNut proxy network used in malware operations
• Positive Sentiment: Several market updates remain bullish on Alphabet’s growth profile, highlighting strong earnings momentum, AI infrastructure investment, and favorable analyst sentiment with multiple buy ratings and elevated price targets.
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud is gaining traction in enterprise AI, including a new deal with Jack Henry, which supports the view that Alphabet can keep growing beyond search and advertising. Zacks: GOOGL’s AI Cloud Strategy Gets a Boost From Jack Henry
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet exceeded its $1 billion Africa investment target, a strategically positive move for long-term expansion but not likely a near-term earnings driver. Reuters: Google has exceeded $1 billion Africa investment target
• Negative Sentiment: The biggest drag on GOOG today is the EU antitrust setback, which could keep regulators focused on Alphabet’s search, Android, and shopping businesses. Reuters: EU top court dismisses Google fight against record €4.1 billion EU antitrust fine
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also watching Alphabet’s heavy AI capex and compute constraints, which could pressure margins if spending stays elevated. Yahoo Finance: Alphabet Is Limiting Gemini AI Access As Cloud Capacity Tightens
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling by Alphabet executives, while modest, may add a little caution to sentiment. SEC filing: Alphabet insider transaction

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.