Garde Capital Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Garde Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,313 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,361 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.0% of Garde Capital Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Garde Capital Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $416,217,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $277,696,000 after buying an additional 93,293 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% in the third quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 72,608 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.5% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 924,927 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $224,850,000 after purchasing an additional 72,235 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, February 16th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. 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. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3%

Alphabet stock opened at $364.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $356.15 and a 200 day moving average of $329.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.00 and a 12-month high of $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its 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 company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company 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 is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Gemini app reportedly doubled its monthly users to 900 million, reinforcing the company’s momentum in consumer AI and supporting the case that its AI investments are translating into real usage.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remains constructive, with one report citing TD Cowen’s view that Alphabet could rise further by 2027, reflecting ongoing confidence in its earnings power and AI/cloud growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was highlighted as a long-term value-and-growth story, with its search cash engine funding a growing cloud and AI franchise at what some analysts view as an attractive valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s recent convertible preferred offering and related financing coverage suggest it still has strong access to capital as it expands AI infrastructure, which can help fund growth initiatives.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s large AI spending plans remain a key debate, with some analysts warning that rising capex could weigh on near-term profitability even if it supports future growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position change, so it does not appear to be a major driver of the stock move.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports linking Alphabet to major AI compute deals and supplier arrangements, including Google Cloud usage by other tech firms, reinforce its strategic importance in AI but are not directly tied to near-term earnings.
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles focus on pressure from Alphabet’s aggressive AI infrastructure spending, including concerns that capex could compress margins and make investors more cautious about the stock’s high expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: One report specifically warned that Alphabet’s net profit margin deserves closer scrutiny after the stock’s strong run, suggesting investors may be increasingly sensitive to any slowdown in profitability.

Alphabet 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.