3,572 Shares in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Acquired by Taylor Securities Services Inc.

Key Points

• Taylor Securities Services disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Alphabet, buying 3,572 shares valued at about $1.12 million. Alphabet now represents roughly 0.5% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 19th-largest holding.
• Alphabet continues to see strong institutional interest and upbeat analyst sentiment, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying an overall Buy consensus rating. The article also notes large-scale bullish moves such as Berkshire Hathaway increasing its stake.
• Fundamentals remain solid: Alphabet recently beat earnings estimates with $5.11 EPS on $109.9 billion in revenue, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share. The stock was trading near $367.46, close to its recent highs.

Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,572 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,121,000. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.5% of Taylor Securities Services Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Towne Trust Company N.A grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to draw bullish attention as investors highlight accelerating Google Cloud growth, improving margins, and a very large backlog that suggests strong demand for AI and cloud services. Alphabet: Google Cloud Is Outperforming Azure And AWS; $462 Billion Backlog Requires More AI Investments
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly increased its Alphabet stake significantly, which is being read as a strong vote of confidence in GOOG’s long-term outlook. Berkshire Hathaway Expands Alphabet (GOOGL) Stake to 58M Shares as Ackman Exits
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s major AI and data-center investments, including a reported $1.5 billion Alabama campus expansion and broader capex plans, are supporting the view that the company is buying future growth. Alphabet (GOOGL) Announces $1.5 Billion Investment Across 2026 And 2027 To Expand Its Alabama Data Center Campus

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,132,701. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 160,516 shares of company stock worth $7,344,604. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Phillip Securities downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $376.78.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $367.46 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $364.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $331.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.33 and a 12 month high of $404.47. 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 $4.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

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.

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