Simon Quick Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Simon Quick Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,522 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,637 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $346.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $364.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $337.29. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $188.49 and a 52 week high of $404.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $470.00 price target (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $383.44.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly building a custom AI server chip, “Frozen v2,” to run Gemini more efficiently and reduce compute costs, which could improve long-term margins and support cloud growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet released new Gemini model variants, including cheaper and cybersecurity-focused versions, signaling continued AI product progress ahead of earnings.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive into earnings, with expectations for strong revenue growth and continued strength in Search and Google Cloud.
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are pricing in a meaningful post-earnings move, suggesting the stock could react sharply to Wednesday’s results either way.
• Neutral Sentiment: Senator Jerry Moran disclosed a purchase of GOOG shares, a modest signal of insider confidence but not a major market-moving catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Alphabet’s large AI and data-center spending, and the delayed Gemini Pro launch is adding to questions about execution and AI payoff.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing securities-fraud investigations create additional headline risk and may weigh on sentiment ahead of earnings.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.