Ballast Inc. Sells 1,331 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Ballast Inc. lowered its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,727 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,331 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.9% of Ballast Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $32,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynch Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $61,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are looking for major AI announcements at Google I/O, including Gemini upgrades, agentic commerce features, and TPU chip progress, which could reinforce Alphabet’s leadership in AI. Google I/O primer: Alphabet’s AI showcase is its chance to wow Wall Street
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America expects broad AI product updates across Search, Chrome, and Android, supporting the view that Alphabet can keep monetizing AI across its core platforms. Google I/O preview: Bank of America expects major AI push across Search, Chrome, and Android
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly increased its Alphabet position again, a high-profile signal that some large investors still see upside in the stock. Warren Buffett’s Successor, Greg Abel, Just Sold 16 Stocks, but Piled Into an AI Titan That’s Now a Top-5 Position for Berkshire Hathaway
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights Alphabet’s strong fundamentals, including a powerful earnings beat, cloud backlog growth, and AI-driven efficiency gains, which have helped justify the rally. Alphabet: The $462B Backlog Crushed The Bear Case, But At 30x P/E I’m Trimming To Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple hedge fund and billionaire portfolio updates show mixed views on Alphabet, with some managers adding while others trimmed positions, which may limit the stock’s near-term reaction. Pershing Square trims Alphabet Class C stake by 5.85M shares
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet disclosed insider-like selling by a major shareholder, which can create slight pressure if investors interpret it as profit-taking after the recent run-up. SEC filing

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1%

Alphabet stock opened at $393.11 on Tuesday. 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 one year low of $163.33 and a one year high of $404.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $329.28 and its 200 day moving average is $318.18.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,405,091.71. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 257,931 shares of company stock valued at $36,886,538 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOG. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Freedom Capital cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.40.

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.