Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Position Lowered by Hartline Investment Corp

Hartline Investment Corp cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,926 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,832 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 4.5% of Hartline Investment Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $41,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th 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 position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $69,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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. The company’s 50 day moving average is $352.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $327.81. 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. 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%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. President Capital raised their price target on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines 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’

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.