Morningstar Investment Management LLC Trims Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Morningstar Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 152,208 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 35,294 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.8% of Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $47,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $393.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet secured a major cloud deal with SpaceX, adding a high-profile customer and boosting the investment case for its AI infrastructure business. SpaceX signs cloud deal with Google
• Positive Sentiment: New Street Research raised its price target on Alphabet to $455 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports said Google’s AI search and chatbot products faced criticism after an audit found many chatbot responses on elections were flawed, which may keep pressure on Alphabet’s AI credibility. Over 90% of AI chatbot answers about midterm elections are flawed, stunning analysis shows
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s large equity raise and higher AI capex guidance are still weighing on sentiment because investors are questioning how quickly those investments will pay off. Alphabet is seeking fresh capital as stock’s 4-week losing streak tests investor appetite
• Negative Sentiment: Google also faces regulatory pressure in the UK over publisher-content rules in AI search, adding another policy risk for the business. Google search facing UK ‘conduct requirement’

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $368.53 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a 50 day moving average of $352.70 and a 200-day moving average of $328.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.00 and a 52 week high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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.