Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 62.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 19,400 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.8% of Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co boosted 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 valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet secured a major cloud deal with SpaceX, adding a high-profile customer and boosting the investment case for its AI infrastructure business. SpaceX signs cloud deal with Google
• Positive Sentiment: New Street Research raised its price target on Alphabet to $455 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports said Google’s AI search and chatbot products faced criticism after an audit found many chatbot responses on elections were flawed, which may keep pressure on Alphabet’s AI credibility. Over 90% of AI chatbot answers about midterm elections are flawed, stunning analysis shows
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s large equity raise and higher AI capex guidance are still weighing on sentiment because investors are questioning how quickly those investments will pay off. Alphabet is seeking fresh capital as stock’s 4-week losing streak tests investor appetite
• Negative Sentiment: Google also faces regulatory pressure in the UK over publisher-content rules in AI search, adding another policy risk for the business. Google search facing UK ‘conduct requirement’

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 29th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $393.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $368.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.00 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The company has a market cap of $4.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day moving average is $352.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $327.81.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.41%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet 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.