SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 78.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,824,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,768,117 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 3.3% of SG Americas Securities LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,105,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ring Mountain Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. HRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC now owns 919 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC now owns 4,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, April 20th. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $470.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday. Finally, 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $376.78.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet will join the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing Verizon, a move that should boost its visibility and could support index-fund demand. Google-Parent Alphabet to Replace Verizon in Dow Jones Industrial Average
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continued to point to Alphabet’s strong AI infrastructure demand and Google Cloud growth as reasons for long-term upside. Alphabet Rides on Accelerating AI Infrastructure Demand: What’s Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also announced a $75 million AI research partnership with film studio A24, underscoring continued experimentation with new AI use cases. Google DeepMind signs AI research deal with film studio A24
• Negative Sentiment: Investor sentiment weakened after reports that another top AI scientist, John Jumper, left DeepMind for Anthropic, adding to fears of an AI brain drain. Google’s YouTube settles with plaintiff ahead of second California trial over social media harm to children, attorneys say
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market coverage highlighted worries about Alphabet’s heavy AI capital spending and the dilution risk tied to its large equity raise, which has pressured the stock. Alphabet Slides as AI Funding Plan Fuels Dilution Worries

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $346.55 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $166.91 and a 1 year high of $404.47. The company has a market capitalization of $4.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $365.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $331.59. 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:GOOG) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.81 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at $7,132,701. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 160,516 shares of company stock valued at $7,344,604. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.