Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Magellan Asset Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 25.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 644,809 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 214,680 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.5% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $201,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $72,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at $7,132,701. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $356.38 on Thursday. 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 fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $357.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $329.64.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more optimistic on Alphabet’s 2027 outlook, citing strong AI and Google Cloud growth potential. Veteran Analyst Firm Resets Alphabet Forecast for 2027
• Positive Sentiment: Google introduced new Gemini features for small businesses, which could help drive AI adoption and future subscription revenue. Google Debuts Gemini Features Geared to Small Businesses
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighted Alphabet as a strong long-term growth story, supported by Search, Cloud, and AI. Why Alphabet (GOOGL) is a Top Growth Stock for the Long-Term
• Neutral Sentiment: Google Cloud disruption in India from a third-party facility fire appears temporary, but it underscores operational and infrastructure risk. Fire at third-party facility disrupts Google Cloud network traffic in India
• Negative Sentiment: A California judge denied Alphabet’s bid for a new trial in the youth social media addiction case, keeping litigation risk alive for YouTube. Market Chatter: Google, Meta Platforms Denied New Trial in Youth Social Media Addiction Case by California Judge
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of Gemini/Google Workspace AI errors and downtime may weigh on sentiment around product reliability. Gemini Is Down? Live Updates on Google Workspace’s AI Errors

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Phillip Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

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.