Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Holdings Raised by Financial Security Advisor Inc.

Financial Security Advisor Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,362 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,007 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 3.0% of Financial Security Advisor Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Financial Security Advisor Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $53,000. Kentucky Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $358.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.00 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $349.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $326.85. The stock has a market cap of $4.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s reported $10 billion commitment to Alphabet’s capital raise is a strong vote of confidence in the company’s AI and cloud strategy, helping validate the long-term investment case. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion for AI goals, Berkshire to invest $10 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street continues to frame Alphabet as a major AI beneficiary, with analysts reaffirming bullish price targets and noting rising demand for Google Cloud and AI infrastructure. Alphabet had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC
• Neutral Sentiment: Lovable’s expanded multi-year Google Cloud deal highlights ongoing customer demand for Alphabet’s cloud services, but it is a modest business development rather than a major near-term catalyst. Lovable signs multi-year deal with Google Cloud to up usage 5x, source says
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around the AI boom and Alphabet’s expanding role in the sector supports the growth narrative, but much of it is sentiment-driven rather than a direct earnings update. Alphabet to raise $84.75 billion in upsized equity offering to fund AI ambitions
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s massive $84.75 billion equity raise is stirring dilution concerns and signaling that AI infrastructure spending will remain extremely capital intensive, which has weighed on the stock. Alphabet to raise $84.75 billion in upsized equity offering to fund AI ambitions
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulators imposed new conduct requirements on Google Search, including giving publishers more control over AI use of their content, adding a fresh regulatory overhang for Alphabet’s search and AI businesses. UK regulator enforces new competition requirements for Google search

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.04.

About Alphabet

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.