Brookstone Capital Management Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 24.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,665 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,920 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet will join the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing Verizon, a move that should boost its visibility and could support index-fund demand. Google-Parent Alphabet to Replace Verizon in Dow Jones Industrial Average
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continued to point to Alphabet’s strong AI infrastructure demand and Google Cloud growth as reasons for long-term upside. Alphabet Rides on Accelerating AI Infrastructure Demand: What’s Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also announced a $75 million AI research partnership with film studio A24, underscoring continued experimentation with new AI use cases. Google DeepMind signs AI research deal with film studio A24
• Negative Sentiment: Investor sentiment weakened after reports that another top AI scientist, John Jumper, left DeepMind for Anthropic, adding to fears of an AI brain drain. Google’s YouTube settles with plaintiff ahead of second California trial over social media harm to children, attorneys say
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market coverage highlighted worries about Alphabet’s heavy AI capital spending and the dilution risk tied to its large equity raise, which has pressured the stock. Alphabet Slides as AI Funding Plan Fuels Dilution Worries

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $346.55 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $166.91 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market cap of $4.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $365.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $331.59.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 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 issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 160,516 shares of company stock valued at $7,344,604. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Phillip Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $435.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $376.78.

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.