CWA Asset Management Group LLC Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 157,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,444 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.4% of CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $38,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley boosted its stake in Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 121.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Bank of America increased their target price on Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up from $336.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.18.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of GOOG opened at $329.29 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $306.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.04. The company has a market cap of $3.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $331.48.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total transaction of $31,971.90. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,706,357.25. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 227,965 shares of company stock valued at $67,495,822. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets boost upside expectations for GOOG, with Canaccord and others lifting targets well above prior levels — a direct catalyst for buying interest. Canaccord Raises PT to $390
• Positive Sentiment: AI product momentum: reports show Gemini gaining share versus ChatGPT and Gemini-powered features rolling into Gmail at scale — this supports stronger ad/search monetization and cloud expectations. Gemini Gains Market Share
• Positive Sentiment: Market-cap milestone: Alphabet briefly overtook Apple as the world’s No.2 public company — a sign of investor confidence that can attract index/ETF flows and reinforce momentum. Alphabet Surpasses Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Wiz acquisition pending EU approval by Feb.10 — approval would remove a large M&A overhang; rejection would be a setback. Outcome is material but binary. EU to Decide on Wiz Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo branding/product updates signal long-term autonomy growth but limited near-term EPS impact; watch commercialization cadence. Waymo Rebrands Robotaxi
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/reputational pressure: three Democratic senators urged Apple and Google to suspend X and Grok from their app stores over sexualized images of minors created via AI — a headline that raises moderation/regulatory scrutiny for app stores and Google’s ecosystem. Senators Call to Suspend X and Grok
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure from AI products: Alphabet and Character.AI settled suits alleging AI chatbots harmed minors (including a teen suicide), underscoring potential costs, regulation and reputational risk. AI Lawsuit Settlements
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and talent movement: CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed a multi-million-dollar share sale; separately, Nvidia hired a Google marketing veteran — both can weigh on near-term sentiment and raise questions about insider cashing and talent retention. Pichai Share Sale

Alphabet Company Profile

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.