Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Acquired by Cullinan Associates Inc.

Cullinan Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 126,728 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,807 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.7% of Cullinan Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $39,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Symmetry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth 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 boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,489,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, White Wing Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,155 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $387.66 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $333.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $319.32. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet and Blackstone announced a $5 billion AI infrastructure joint venture to build TPU-powered cloud capacity, which could deepen demand for Google’s custom chips and expand its AI ecosystem. Google, Blackstone to create new AI cloud company, WSJ reports
• Positive Sentiment: Google I/O showcased a broad AI push across Search, Gemini, Workspace, shopping, and video tools, reinforcing the idea that Alphabet is monetizing AI rather than just defending against rivals. Google debuts new AI models, personal AI agents in effort to keep pace with OpenAI and Anthropic
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with Arete Research lifting its price target to $425 and maintaining a buy rating, signaling continued upside expectations. Arete Research adjusts price target on Alphabet to $425 from $405
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet said Gemini now has 900 million monthly users and AI Overviews has 2.5 billion monthly users, suggesting its AI products are already reaching scale. Google kicks off I/O conference with AI upgrades for coders, consumers
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet disclosed insider sales by a major shareholder, but the transactions appear routine and are not, by themselves, a strong fundamental signal. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors are uneasy that Google’s AI-heavy search redesign could disrupt the company’s core ad model, especially as the “ten blue links” era fades. Google Search as you know it is over
• Negative Sentiment: There is also headline risk from broader scrutiny around platform responsibility and YouTube youth-safety issues, which may keep some investors cautious. Alphabet’s $5 Trillion Milestone: How AI Ambitions Are Fueling Google’s Record Run

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total transaction of $37,842.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,908,391. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. UBS Group set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Arete Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $411.23.

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.