Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $31.86 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,711 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.8% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $31,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,240,469,000 after buying an additional 7,904,434 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $678,198,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $869,781,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $455,745,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet signed a major cloud-computing agreement with SpaceX, with reports putting the deal at about $920 million per month for 32 months, which could provide a meaningful revenue stream and reinforce demand for Google Cloud. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s municipal-bond debut drew strong investor demand, suggesting institutions still view the company as a high-quality borrower with flexible financing options. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors and analysts said the equity raise is a strategic move to accelerate AI infrastructure and may help Alphabet defend and expand its long-term leadership in search, cloud, and AI. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also appeared in commentary about AI-related partnerships, including potential indirect benefits from the SpaceX IPO and other cloud collaborations, but these are mostly longer-term strategic themes rather than immediate catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street coverage focused heavily on Alphabet’s expanding capital expenditures, with some commentators warning that the AI buildout may be getting too expensive and could pressure free cash flow. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $348.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.00.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $365.76 on Friday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $350.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $327.07. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.33 and a twelve month high of $404.47. The company has a market capitalization of $4.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.81 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

About Alphabet

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.