Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Acquired by Braun Stacey Associates Inc.

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 317,123 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,793 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 3.0% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $91,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Symmetry Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,476,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Members Trust Co grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,489,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Loop Capital upped their price target on Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore raised their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.54.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several recent stories highlight Alphabet’s AI and cloud momentum, including Google Cloud traction with enterprise customers like Jack Henry and growing use of Google’s cloud tech by Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo, which supports the bull case for future growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer argued that Alphabet still looks cheap, reinforcing a valuation-supportive narrative for GOOGL after its pullback. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with Wells Fargo keeping an overweight rating and multiple analysts maintaining buy recommendations, which may help support the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s insider selling by John Kent Walker appears routine and is not, by itself, a major fundamental concern for investors. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Alphabet’s growing role in AI-powered shopping, robotaxis, and other ecosystem developments adds to the long-term story, but these are more thesis-supportive than immediate catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The biggest drag is the EU Supreme Court decision upholding Alphabet’s €4.1 billion Android antitrust fine, which reinforces legal and regulatory overhangs for the stock. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A separate Swedish court ruling ordered Alphabet to pay nearly $2 billion in a price-comparison dispute, adding to the sense that antitrust and competition risks remain active. Article Title

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $359.91 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.77 and a 12 month high of $408.61. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $371.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $334.41.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

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.