Navigation Group LLC Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Navigation Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,422 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,137,000. Alphabet makes up about 1.0% of Navigation Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 76.2% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $330,886,000 after acquiring an additional 806,681 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 7.7% in the second quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,618,000 after acquiring an additional 3,616 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $346.12 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $366.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $336.81. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.73 and a 1 year high of $404.47. 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 market capitalization of $4.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 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 analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. UBS Group set a $430.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $470.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $383.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America and Wedbush remain bullish, with both highlighting strong cloud growth, AI monetization potential, and upside to the stock ahead of earnings. Alphabet could crush estimates on Cloud strength, Anthropic windfall: BofA
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors are still pointing to accelerating Google Search and Google Cloud growth, while retail interest and institutional ownership remain strong ahead of the July 22 report.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI and cloud businesses remain central to the bullish thesis, with multiple articles noting that the company could benefit from rising AI infrastructure spend and strong earnings expectations.

About Alphabet

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.