Niles Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 10,567 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,307,000. Alphabet accounts for 2.5% of Niles Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after buying an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,625,595,000 after buying an additional 2,666,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,534,239,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in Alphabet by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,881,908 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,865,158,000 after buying an additional 774,336 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 191,966 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,968 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $369.35 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 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. The business has a 50 day moving average of $361.93 and a 200-day moving average of $330.66. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.00 and a 12-month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued 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 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google’s legal action against an AI-enabled scam network highlights Alphabet’s role in fighting online fraud and may strengthen trust in its security ecosystem. AI Scam Surge Prompts Google to File Lawsuit
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Alphabet as a key AI winner, with Gemini, cloud spending, and enterprise demand seen as long-term growth drivers. 3 AI Stocks Poised for Long-Term Gains Despite Strong Year-to-Date Performance
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s increased stake in Alphabet adds a high-profile endorsement and suggests long-term confidence in the stock’s AI and platform value. Berkshire Hathaway’s Greg Abel Just Made a Big Bet on Who Will Win the AI Races

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $460.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

About Alphabet

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.