Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Has $17.66 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,265 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,911 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $132,114,125,000 after acquiring an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,240,469,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904,434 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,032,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,749,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,203 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,583,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,935,671,000 after purchasing an additional 223,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,625,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,971,769,000 after purchasing an additional 539,679 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $348.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $362.73.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google said it likely stopped a hacker group from using AI to plan a large-scale cyberattack, underscoring the strength of its cybersecurity capabilities and reducing the risk of a major breach. Reuters: Hackers pushing innovation in AI-enabled hacking operations, Google says
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary remained upbeat on Alphabet’s AI, cloud, and Gemini momentum, with some coverage arguing the company could challenge Nvidia as the world’s most valuable company. MSN: Alphabet could overtake Nvidia as world’s largest company
• Neutral Sentiment: Google Finance is expanding in Europe, adding another AI-focused product initiative, but this is more of a long-term growth story than an immediate stock-moving catalyst. PYMNTS: Google Finance Continues AI-Focused Expansion With EU Launch

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,187,638.65. The trade was a 22.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $386.77 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $157.58 and a twelve month high of $398.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $320.46 and its 200-day moving average is $313.53. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm 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 an increase 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 is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 6.41%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.