Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. Has $1.64 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 31.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,704 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.4% of Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.4% in the first quarter. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the first quarter. Investment Advisory Services Group LLC now owns 7,805 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,244,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.4% during the first quarter. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co now owns 4,998 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after buying an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 37,555 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,799,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,368 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,406,000 after buying an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Warren Buffett said he initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s Alphabet investment, a high-profile endorsement that is helping sentiment around Alphabet (GOOGL). Warren Buffett tells CNBC he initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst previews say Alphabet’s AI momentum, cloud backlog, and earnings growth expectations could support another strong quarter, keeping investors upbeat ahead of results. Alphabet’s AI Spending Question Looms Over Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Alphabet to strong-buy, citing earnings growth expectations and attractive fundamentals relative to its valuation. Zacks upgrade to strong-buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet expanded its clean-energy commitments with its largest solar and battery storage purchase yet, which supports its long-term infrastructure strategy but is not an immediate earnings driver. Google’s biggest clean power project is 40 miles north of xAI’s unpermitted gas power plant
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also drew attention for a new collaboration with INVIDI Technologies to extend addressable advertising to set-top boxes, a potentially helpful ad-tech expansion but still early-stage. INVIDI Technologies Collaborates with Google to Integrate Google Ad Manager
• Negative Sentiment: The European Commission is preparing new fines against Google, renewing regulatory risk and adding pressure to Alphabet’s legal overhang. EU Prepares to Fine Google as Part of Increased Big Tech Enforcement
• Negative Sentiment: Google is also fighting antitrust scrutiny in Europe and Switzerland, including efforts to preserve a court ruling that overturned a $1.7 billion EU fine and a new Swiss probe over Android search defaults. Google urges EU top court to back ruling scrapping $1.7 billion antitrust fine
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reports raised concerns about Google’s AI search tools and a DeepMind researcher’s resignation over the company’s Pentagon work, both of which could add reputational risk. A DeepMind researcher resigned over its AI military deal

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $370.92 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $180.48 and a one year high of $408.61. The company has a market cap of $4.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $370.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $337.62. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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. Arete Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised their price objective on Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.73.

Alphabet Company 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.