Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Holdings Lowered by Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,737 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,316 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 3.0% of Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $53,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co boosted its holdings 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. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $69,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,132,701. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 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 valued at $17,282,549 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

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

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $393.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. New Street Research increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Argus increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $368.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $352.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $327.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.00 and a 52 week high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. 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%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.