Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Boosted by Marietta Wealth Management LLC

Marietta Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 75.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 162,816 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,895 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 5.9% of Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $50,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. EPG Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. EPG Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,802 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,076,000 after purchasing an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 433,552 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $135,702,000 after purchasing an additional 14,385 shares during the last quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 55.4% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 718 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 2,720 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockingstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 19,282 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,035,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Dbs Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $407.86.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet unveiled upcoming AI-powered bidding and budget-pacing tools for Google Ads, which could make Search and Shopping advertising more efficient and attractive for advertisers. Google AI Automates Ad Bidding and Budget Pacing
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts raised price targets on Alphabet, including DBS Bank to $460 and other firms lifting estimates after the company’s earnings beat, reinforcing the view that results remain stronger than expected. DBS Bank Adjusts Price Target on Alphabet to 460
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s partnership with OTB Group on a generative-AI virtual try-on experience adds to the narrative that Alphabet can monetize AI across enterprise and retail use cases. Google Cloud Partners With OTB Group
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted strong investor appetite for AI leaders such as Google, and recent coverage continues to frame Alphabet as one of the main beneficiaries of the AI spending cycle. Google, Broadcom Drive Delirious Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reports on Google’s AI “agent” efforts and AI search features suggest Alphabet is expanding its product lead in next-generation search and automation tools. Meta, Google enter AI agent race
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also getting more time to address EU regulators’ concerns in an ongoing antitrust investigation, which removes some immediate pressure but does not eliminate the legal overhang. Google Gets More Time in EU Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Google faces a new UK lawsuit over online display ads, adding another antitrust/legal risk that could weigh on sentiment if regulatory scrutiny intensifies. Google Faces New UK Lawsuit Over Online Display Ads

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares in the company, valued at $2,955,564. The trade was a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,187,638.65. This represents a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $400.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average of $318.66 and a 200 day moving average of $311.72. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $152.20 and a 1 year high of $402.00. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost 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 is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Alphabet 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.