Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,832,050 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 45,365 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.2% of Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $889,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $416,217,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,277,000 after purchasing an additional 7,180 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 23.6% during the third quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,241 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.7% in the second quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 1,457,732 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $256,896,000 after purchasing an additional 65,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 21.2% in the third quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 50,064 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,171,000 after purchasing an additional 8,746 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.
More Alphabet News
Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Alphabet is among stocks that have received multiple analyst upgrades and raised price targets after strong AI and cloud results, underpinning longer‑term upside expectations. Zacks: Alphabet is a strong growth stock
- Positive Sentiment: Gemini monetization / retail tie‑ups: Gap will enable checkout inside Google’s Gemini, a step toward direct commerce monetization for the AI platform. This could help diversify revenue beyond search advertising. CNBC: Gap becomes first to offer checkout within Gemini
- Positive Sentiment: Cloud & partnerships: New deals — Openreach using Google AI to speed fibre rollout and BMO/CME launching a tokenized cash platform on Google Cloud — highlight enterprise demand for Google Cloud services and potential revenue tailwinds. Reuters: Openreach taps Google AI Reuters: BMO to launch tokenized cash platform with CME and Google Cloud
- Neutral Sentiment: Robotics / AI roadmap: DeepMind/Google partnership activity (e.g., Agile Robots) signals long‑term AI/robotics ambitions but is capital‑intensive and will take time to monetize. CNBC: Google partners with Agile Robots
- Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/market structure watch: EU antitrust meetings with Big Tech and Google’s initiative in India to label verified investment apps are regulatory items to monitor — could mean more oversight but also proactive controls limiting consumer harm. Reuters: EU antitrust chief meets tech CEOs Reuters: Google to label verified investment apps in India
- Negative Sentiment: Landmark LA verdict — legal overhang: A Los Angeles jury found Google’s YouTube (and Meta’s Instagram) negligent in a youth social‑media addiction case, awarding compensatory damages and moving to a punitive phase. The decision creates precedent risk, could spur additional suits, and has been cited as a near‑term driver of selling pressure. Reuters: Jury reaches verdict in Meta, Google trial BusinessWire: $3M compensatory verdict
- Negative Sentiment: Macro/earnings risk: Investors remain concerned about Alphabet’s very large 2026 capex guidance, rising energy costs for AI/data centers, and a recent pullback in the stock — factors that could compress near‑term returns despite long‑term growth potential. Barron’s: Google stock slides toward bear market territory
Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,244,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,914,730.12. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $318,580.50. Following the sale, the director owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,091.71. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117 in the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. New Street Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $330.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.18.
View Our Latest Stock Report on GOOGL
Alphabet Company 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.
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