Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Position Increased by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,223,730 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,106 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $302,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Alphabet from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up previously from $336.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.13.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major analyst upgrade and higher price targets highlight AI-driven upside — Raymond James raised GOOG to “Strong Buy” and boosted its price target (street chatter also shows multiple firms lifting targets), supporting investor confidence in Alphabet’s AI strategy and Google Cloud momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Big investors adding shares — Baillie Gifford disclosed adding ~1.19M GOOGL shares in the latest 13F filing, a sign of continued institutional accumulation that can underpin price support. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Strong AI ecosystem wins — Apple reportedly will use Google’s Gemini to power the next Siri, expanding Gemini’s distribution and reinforcing Alphabet’s AI moat and monetization pathways. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage remains focused on AI and technicals — Several outlets and analysts are publishing bullish previews and technical trading ideas (including MarketBeat, Zacks, TipRanks), which keeps interest high but doesn’t guarantee near-term moves. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo expansion vs. scrutiny — Waymo launched robotaxis in Miami (expansion signal), which can drive future growth for Alphabet’s autonomy segment but also raises operational/legal exposure as deployment scales. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: NTSB opens probe into Waymo after robotaxis passed stopped school buses — A federal safety investigation into repeated illegal passes in Austin (reported incidents across states) creates regulatory and reputational risk for Waymo and, by extension, Alphabet. That headline is the clearest near-term negative catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Antitrust litigation risk persists — A federal judge allowed a consumer antitrust lawsuit over Google Search to proceed, keeping legal exposure and potential remedies on the radar for investors assessing longer-term regulatory risk. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,798,832.60. This trade represents a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,205 shares in the company, valued at $5,706,357.25. This trade represents a 0.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 225,187 shares of company stock worth $69,365,318. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $328.55 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $316.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $261.38. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $341.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is currently 8.28%.

Alphabet 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.