Peregrine Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Peregrine Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 22.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 358,728 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 103,961 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.8% of Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $103,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $416,217,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $277,696,000 after purchasing an additional 93,293 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 274,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $86,000,000 after buying an additional 23,107 shares during the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $28,902,000. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $4,338,397,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Alphabet from $435.00 to $416.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $445.00 price objective (up from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 1st. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.54.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Waymo plans to expand driverless rides to four more major cities this year, with a phased rollout that could broaden Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle opportunity and reinforce its leadership in robotaxis. Waymo Plans to Expand Driverless Cars to 4 More Major Cities This Year
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to be highlighted as a beneficiary of massive AI infrastructure spending, with analysts pointing to strong demand for cloud expansion, data centers, and AI hardware. 3 Top-Ranked Stocks Riding on Massive AI Infrastructure Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was cited as an indirect way to gain exposure to Anthropic ahead of a possible IPO, since the company already holds a major private stake in the AI startup. Want Anthropic Exposure Before the IPO? These 2 AI Giants Are Already There (GOOGL)
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly added a $10 billion private placement investment in Alphabet, a sign of institutional confidence that could support sentiment in the stock. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Successor, Greg Abel, Just Bought More of This Magnificent Tech Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Cognizant deepened its Google Cloud partnership to accelerate enterprise AI adoption, which underscores Alphabet’s cloud relevance but is not a direct financial catalyst by itself. Cognizant Strengthens AI Portfolio Through Google Cloud Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s upcoming Pixel launch event on August 12 keeps hardware in view, but this is more of a product-calendar reminder than an immediate stock-moving catalyst. Google’s Pixel event is set for August 12
• Negative Sentiment: Google updated the Chrome Web Store to ban prediction market transactions, a policy move that may be seen as restrictive and could attract backlash from affected users and developers. Google Bans Prediction Market Transactions Amid Backlash
• Negative Sentiment: One article noted Alphabet shares were already slipping versus the broader market, adding to the intraday weakness as traders weigh valuation and AI competition concerns. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Sees a More Significant Dip Than Broader Market: Some Facts to Know

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $361.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $372.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $335.93. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.77 and a 12 month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm 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%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

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.