Whelan Financial Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Whelan Financial lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,899 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,740 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.3% of Whelan Financial’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Whelan Financial’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 76.2% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $330,886,000 after buying an additional 806,681 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the second quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% in the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,618,000 after acquiring an additional 3,616 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $362.73.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $386.77 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $157.58 and a twelve month high of $398.37. The stock has a market cap of $4.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $320.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $313.53.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.41%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is being viewed as an AI leader, with reports highlighting growth in Google Cloud, Gemini, and the possibility of a major Anthropic-related deal that could strengthen its cloud revenue outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary from Wall Street and media outlets has been upbeat, with several analysts maintaining buy-equivalent ratings and some suggesting Alphabet could keep benefiting from AI and cloud spending.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet expanded its euro- and Canadian dollar bond funding and is reportedly considering yen-denominated bonds to help finance heavy AI infrastructure spending, which supports growth but also signals rising capital needs.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google launched an AI-focused update to Google Finance in Europe and continues broader product expansion, reinforcing its push to embed AI across its ecosystem.
• Negative Sentiment: Cybersecurity headlines may be weighing on sentiment after Google said hackers used AI to discover and attempt to exploit a zero-day flaw, raising concerns about emerging AI-enabled attack methods.
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit, is recalling nearly 3,800 robotaxis for a self-driving software issue, which could add scrutiny to the company’s autonomous vehicle ambitions.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet also faces a $135 million Android data settlement, a modest legal overhang that adds to headline risk.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total value of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,187,638.65. This represents a 22.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,955,564. This trade represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.