Skylands Capital LLC Has $46.42 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Skylands Capital LLC trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 148,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 35,385 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 6.3% of Skylands Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $46,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Symmetry Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Members Trust Co boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,489,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, White Wing Wealth Management boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,155 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Loop Capital raised its price target on Alphabet to $490 and kept a buy rating, while Oppenheimer lifted its target to $445 with an outperform rating, reinforcing confidence in the company’s growth outlook. Loop Capital price target update Oppenheimer price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports pointed to Alphabet’s AI momentum ahead of Google I/O, including growing customer adoption of Gemini Flash and expectations that the event will showcase more AI innovation. Business Insider on Gemini Flash adoption BofA note on Google I/O
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts also raised forward earnings estimates for Alphabet, suggesting continued confidence in monetization and profit growth. Alphabet earnings estimate update
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet completed a record-breaking yen bond sale, giving it fresh funding capacity to expand AI infrastructure while diversifying its financing sources. Yen bond issuance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around Alphabet’s YouTube revenue, the company’s role in AI infrastructure, and Bill Ackman’s continued interest in mega-cap tech adds to the positive narrative, but these items are more supportive context than direct catalysts. YouTube revenue article Bill Ackman Mag 7 article
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage highlighted Alphabet’s valuation and the broader crowding in AI/mega-cap tech, which could make the stock more vulnerable if sentiment cools. Valuation rerating article UBS crowding warning
• Negative Sentiment: A report that Google may cap new Gmail accounts at 5GB of free storage could be seen as a consumer-unfriendly move and a possible engagement risk if implemented broadly. Gmail storage cap article
• Negative Sentiment: There was also some concern around competition and execution in AI and adjacent hardware, including comparison pieces on Alphabet versus Nvidia and broader AI rivalry. AI competition article

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total value of $348,232.50. Following the sale, the director owned 3,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,187,638.65. This trade represents a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 157,953 shares of company stock worth $47,767,818 over the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. President Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Freedom Capital cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $357.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $410.84.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $396.78 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $329.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $317.61. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $403.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

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.