J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 143,200 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,546 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.9% of J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $44,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $53,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $69,000. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. China Renaissance raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $435.00 target price (up from $427.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $430.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $356.38 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $357.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $329.64. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.00 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more optimistic on Alphabet’s 2027 outlook, citing strong AI and Google Cloud growth potential. Veteran Analyst Firm Resets Alphabet Forecast for 2027
• Positive Sentiment: Google introduced new Gemini features for small businesses, which could help drive AI adoption and future subscription revenue. Google Debuts Gemini Features Geared to Small Businesses
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighted Alphabet as a strong long-term growth story, supported by Search, Cloud, and AI. Why Alphabet (GOOGL) is a Top Growth Stock for the Long-Term
• Neutral Sentiment: Google Cloud disruption in India from a third-party facility fire appears temporary, but it underscores operational and infrastructure risk. Fire at third-party facility disrupts Google Cloud network traffic in India
• Negative Sentiment: A California judge denied Alphabet’s bid for a new trial in the youth social media addiction case, keeping litigation risk alive for YouTube. Market Chatter: Google, Meta Platforms Denied New Trial in Youth Social Media Addiction Case by California Judge
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of Gemini/Google Workspace AI errors and downtime may weigh on sentiment around product reliability. Gemini Is Down? Live Updates on Google Workspace’s AI Errors

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 in the last quarter. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.