Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Acquired by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

Key Points

• ZWJ Investment Counsel increased its Alphabet stake by 1.7% in the third quarter, purchasing 6,768 additional shares to hold 405,785 shares valued at approximately $138.3 million.
• Alphabet has a consensus “Buy” rating from analysts, with an average price target of $422.10; recent targets ranged from $385 to $485.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, including $9.11 in earnings per share and $119.8 billion in revenue, while insiders have sold approximately $8.3 million of stock over the past 90 days.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 405,785 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,768 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 3.9% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $138,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $45,352,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 369,922,502 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $130,704,718,000 after buying an additional 5,164,200 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 190,923,442 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $67,458,980,000 after acquiring an additional 5,208,690 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,643,262,000 after acquiring an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,595,622 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,693,281,000 after acquiring an additional 508,718 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the sale, the director owned 19,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 420,865 shares of company stock worth $8,293,477. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $390.00 to $385.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 target price (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Alphabet from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Alphabet from $415.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Alphabet from $395.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $422.10.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target to $425 from $420 and maintained an Overweight rating. The firm cited sustained Google Cloud growth and Alphabet’s ability to remain competitive in artificial intelligence. Alphabet Stocks Rise as JPMorgan Lifts Target on Cloud Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to generate positive AI momentum. Gemini 4 Argon reportedly scored highly on accounting and enterprise benchmarks, while Google demonstrated a quantum-computing technique that could reduce errors significantly. These developments support the company’s positioning against OpenAI, Anthropic and other rivals. Gemini 4 Argon Accounting Benchmark
• Positive Sentiment: New commercial initiatives—including Google’s Universal Cart shopping tool, a multiyear AI partnership with CNN and potential YouTube audiobook offerings—could broaden monetization across Search, Gemini and YouTube. Google Universal Cart Launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are looking ahead to Alphabet’s upcoming earnings, with analysts generally bullish on AI and cloud growth. However, the company’s substantial data-center and AI infrastructure spending raises questions about near-term free cash flow and returns on capital. Alphabet Q3 Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms are promoting a securities class action alleging that Alphabet failed to disclose disappointing Gemini training results. The repeated notices and December lead-plaintiff deadline create a reputational and potential litigation overhang, although they do not represent new operating results. Alphabet Securities Fraud Lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Google warned that suspected China-linked hackers may exploit a vulnerability in BeyondTrust software, adding cybersecurity and trust concerns. Separately, renewed fears over stretched AI valuations and competition for digital advertising could limit further gains. Google Warns of BeyondTrust Exploitation Risk

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $344.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.19. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $244.67 and a one year high of $404.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. The company's fifty day moving average price is $341.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $348.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. The business's revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent company of Google. Established in 2015 through a corporate restructuring, Alphabet oversees Google and a collection of businesses focused on technology, innovation and emerging industries. Sundar Pichai serves as Alphabet's chief executive officer and also leads Google.

Google is Alphabet's primary business and operates an internet ecosystem that includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Photos.

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