Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Connors Investor Services Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Connors Investor Services Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 41.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 97,640 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,415 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.6% of Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

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’

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Dbs Bank increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were 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 directly owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $368.53 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. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $352.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $327.81. The company has a market cap of $4.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 6.41%.

Alphabet Company 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.