Alphabet Inc. $GOOG is Cary Street Partners Financial LLC's 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its Alphabet stake by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 237,149 shares worth about $74.4 million. Alphabet is now the firm’s 5th largest position.
• Alphabet continues to draw attention for its AI push, with reports of expanded Google Cloud deals and Gemini reaching 900 million users. At the same time, the company is planning major AI-related spending, including an upsized equity raise and capital expenditures that could reach $190 billion.
• Wall Street remains mostly bullish on GOOG despite concerns about heavy spending and regulatory pressure. Analysts’ average rating is “Buy,” and Alphabet also recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates while raising its dividend slightly.

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 237,149 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,986 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.8% of Cary Street Partners Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $74,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 76.2% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $330,886,000 after purchasing an additional 806,681 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to show strong AI momentum, including a reported expansion of its Google Cloud partnership with Lovable and reports that Apple may use Google Cloud to help power a revamped Siri. Those deals reinforce demand for Alphabet’s cloud and AI infrastructure. Lovable signs multi-year deal with Google Cloud to up usage 5x, source says
• Positive Sentiment: Investor confidence appears to be supported by major backers, with Berkshire Hathaway and ARK-related buying cited alongside strong analyst interest and price targets near the low-to-mid $400s. That institutional support is helping offset some of the recent weakness. Google Stock Lures in Both Cathie Wood and Berkshire Hathaway as Giant Investors Rush for a Discount
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI spending plan and equity raise remain the biggest focus: the company increased its planned capital raise to about $84.75 billion to fund AI infrastructure, while also guiding capital expenditures as high as $190 billion. Investors see this as a sign of ambition and demand, but also of heavy near-term spending needs. Alphabet to raise $84.75 billion in upsized equity offering to fund AI ambitions
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also reported strong AI usage trends, including Gemini reaching 900 million users, which supports the long-term growth narrative even as the market debates whether AI returns justify the spending surge. Alphabet’s Gemini AI App Surges to 900 Million Users
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment was pressured by Alphabet’s massive new equity financing, which raised dilution and return-on-capex questions as the company leans harder into AI buildout. Some investors are worried the AI infrastructure race is becoming too expensive. Google Stock Drops on New Data Center Buildout amid $190B Capex Headache
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI search business also faces new U.K. conduct requirements that let publishers opt out of AI summaries and training use, which could constrain the company’s search monetization and data access over time. UK regulator enforces new competition requirements for Google search
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of quiet layoffs in Google Cloud added to the cautious tone, suggesting Alphabet is still trimming costs even as it ramps spending elsewhere. Google is quietly laying off staff in its cloud division

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $435.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $376.00.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $369.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $348.54 and a 200 day moving average of $326.80. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.33 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.81 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 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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