Ames National Corp Sells 1,430 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Ames National Corp cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,685 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,430 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.8% of Ames National Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Ames National Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 130.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,280,970 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,598,568,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680,460 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,761,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 41,541 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,036,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $328,000. Finally, Cordoba Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,198,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s drone-delivery unit Wing expanded into seven more U.S. cities with Walmart, reinforcing that its Other Bets can scale into real businesses and may be more valuable than the market gives them credit for.
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo launched a $29.99 monthly membership program, adding a recurring-revenue layer to its robotaxi business and highlighting rapid growth in paid rides, which investors may see as a meaningful long-term opportunity.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst and commentary pieces remain constructive on Alphabet’s AI, cloud, and search setup, with some calling it an AI powerhouse and lifting price targets, which supports the stock’s bullish narrative.
• Positive Sentiment: Google is also expanding its real-estate listings nationwide and continuing to deepen its AI infrastructure and chip strategy, reinforcing multiple growth avenues beyond search advertising.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google filed suit against an alleged Chinese cybercrime group that used AI to scam victims, a move that shows the company is actively defending its platforms, though the stock impact is likely limited unless the issue escalates.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet declined a $2 billion U.S. quantum-computing funding program, saying the terms could slow development; that may be viewed as a strategic choice rather than a major financial event.
• Neutral Sentiment: News that some billionaire investors sold Alphabet in Q1 while others bought more adds to the debate, but it does not change the underlying business fundamentals by itself.
• Negative Sentiment: Some recent coverage continues to focus on worries about rising capital expenditures and AI monetization, which can pressure sentiment if investors fear Alphabet’s AI spending will take longer to pay off.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI Overview feature has also faced renewed controversy, adding another small overhang around search quality and user trust.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,132,701. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.78.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $358.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $163.33 and a one year high of $404.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $357.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $329.44.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.Alphabet’s revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.81 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 6.71%.

Alphabet 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.