First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 2,413 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,413 shares during the quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Delta Asset Management LLC TN lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 6,153 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,496,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Matisse Capital raised its position in Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 14,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Breakwater Investment Management lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the third quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 4,228 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.3% during the third quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $302.85 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $349.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.02, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $320.20 and a 200 day moving average of $277.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.55, for a total transaction of $314,001.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,916 shares in the company, valued at $3,337,229.80. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,079,982 shares of company stock valued at $109,267,889 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. HSBC lifted their price target on Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Alphabet from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Alphabet from $279.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.86.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google and Apple are adding music-focused generative-AI features to core apps, showing Alphabet’s AI tech is moving into mainstream consumer experiences that can drive engagement and ad/licensing opportunities. Google Gemini, Apple add music-focused generative AI features
• Positive Sentiment: Google will develop AI tools with Sea Ltd for e-commerce and gaming in Southeast Asia — a tie-up that expands Google Cloud and AI reach in high-growth markets, boosting potential cloud revenue. Google, Shopee-owner Sea to develop AI tools for e-commerce, gaming
• Positive Sentiment: Industry mega-deals like the NVIDIA–Meta expansion reinforce massive, multiyear demand for AI compute — a tailwind for Google Cloud (inference/deployment demand) as hyperscalers lock in infrastructure spending. NVIDIA and Meta Deepen Their AI Alliance
• Positive Sentiment: Big investors remain supportive: Berkshire Hathaway kept its Alphabet stake in recent filings and other high-profile investors (e.g., David Tepper) have increased exposure — signals of institutional confidence in Alphabet’s cloud/AI strategy. Berkshire & AI Hyperscalers: Buffett Holds GOOGL, Dumps AMZN
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking Holdings’ stock-split/earnings story spotlights Google’s Travel/AI booking capabilities — the piece underscores competitive dynamics (Google can disintermediate travel booking) but it’s more relevant as industry context than an immediate revenue swing for Alphabet. Booking Holdings Split: The Catalyst Wall Street Didn’t See Coming
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director John Hennessy sold 600 shares (filed in mid-February) — a small but visible insider sale that can amplify short-term selling narratives. Alphabet Director John Hennessy Sells 600 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo/regulatory and operational noise: New York regulatory shifts and scrutiny around remote-assistance in robotaxis constrain Waymo’s expansion and keep a regulatory overhang on Alphabet’s AV ambitions. New York Gov. Hochul drops robotaxi service proposal for outside NYC
• Negative Sentiment: Service reliability and cost concerns: A YouTube outage and commentary about Alphabet’s heavy CapEx for AI compute contribute to short-term profit-taking and worries about near-term margins. YouTube outage hits over 32,000 users

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.