Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Bought by Bellwether Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its Alphabet stake by 38% in the fourth quarter, buying 4,673 additional shares and bringing its total to 16,986 shares valued at about $5.33 million.
• Alphabet’s latest earnings beat expectations, reporting $5.11 EPS on $109.9 billion in revenue, with revenue up 21.8% year over year. Analysts still see upside, with a consensus rating of Buy and a target price around $376.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share, while investors are also watching its aggressive AI spending plans and related financing, which support growth but raise concerns about dilution and heavy capital needs.

Bellwether Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 38.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,986 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,673 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.9% of Bellwether Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Bellwether Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Goepper Burkhardt LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Goepper Burkhardt LLC now owns 1,092 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 18,349 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 197,538 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $61,987,000 after purchasing an additional 17,613 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 9,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,878,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Family Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $369.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $348.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $326.80. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.33 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm 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%. The company's revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.28 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $348.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Five 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $376.00.

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 Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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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