Wealthfront Advisers LLC Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 805,215 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 57,606 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.6% of Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $252,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co lifted its position in Alphabet by 142.9% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,908,391. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total value of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,187,638.65. The trade was a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 157,953 shares of company stock worth $47,767,818. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

GOOGL opened at $396.78 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.00 and a 12 month high of $403.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.27, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $329.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $317.27.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $390.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Alphabet from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $425.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $410.84.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Loop Capital raised its price target on Alphabet to $490 and kept a buy rating, while Oppenheimer lifted its target to $445 with an outperform rating, reinforcing confidence in the company’s growth outlook. Loop Capital price target update Oppenheimer price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports pointed to Alphabet’s AI momentum ahead of Google I/O, including growing customer adoption of Gemini Flash and expectations that the event will showcase more AI innovation. Business Insider on Gemini Flash adoption BofA note on Google I/O
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts also raised forward earnings estimates for Alphabet, suggesting continued confidence in monetization and profit growth. Alphabet earnings estimate update
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet completed a record-breaking yen bond sale, giving it fresh funding capacity to expand AI infrastructure while diversifying its financing sources. Yen bond issuance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around Alphabet’s YouTube revenue, the company’s role in AI infrastructure, and Bill Ackman’s continued interest in mega-cap tech adds to the positive narrative, but these items are more supportive context than direct catalysts. YouTube revenue article Bill Ackman Mag 7 article
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage highlighted Alphabet’s valuation and the broader crowding in AI/mega-cap tech, which could make the stock more vulnerable if sentiment cools. Valuation rerating article UBS crowding warning
• Negative Sentiment: A report that Google may cap new Gmail accounts at 5GB of free storage could be seen as a consumer-unfriendly move and a possible engagement risk if implemented broadly. Gmail storage cap article
• Negative Sentiment: There was also some concern around competition and execution in AI and adjacent hardware, including comparison pieces on Alphabet versus Nvidia and broader AI rivalry. AI competition article

About Alphabet

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.