Mondrian Investment Partners LTD Sells 163,636 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 640,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 163,636 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 3.2% of Mondrian Investment Partners LTD’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $200,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $4,338,397,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Alphabet by 28.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Alphabet by 15.7% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,333,076,000 after purchasing an additional 6,874,381 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Cayman LP grew its holdings in Alphabet by 23,402.1% during the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 6,118,547 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,487,419,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092,513 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Phillip Securities lifted their price target on Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 29th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $435.00 target price (up from $427.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,132,701. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 over the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $368.53 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.00 and a 12-month high of $408.61. The stock 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $352.70 and a 200-day moving average of $327.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business 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 an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

Trending Headlines about 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’

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.