Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV's 7th Largest Position

Key Points

• Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its Alphabet stake by 6.1% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 105,273 shares valued at about $30.3 million. Alphabet is now the firm’s 7th-largest position and makes up roughly 1.6% of its portfolio.
• Wall Street sentiment remains largely constructive, with multiple analysts raising price targets and the stock holding an overall “Moderate Buy” rating. The average target price is now $413.13, above Alphabet’s recent trading level.
• Alphabet continues to show strong fundamentals, posting Q1 EPS of $5.11 versus estimates of $2.64 and revenue of $109.9 billion above expectations. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21.

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,273 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,099 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.6% of Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV's holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $445.00 price objective (up from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Arete Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Dbs Bank upped their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, President Capital raised their price target on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at $7,132,701. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 160,516 shares of company stock valued at $7,344,604. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet will replace Verizon in the Dow Jones Industrial Average effective June 29, a notable prestige boost that could support passive fund buying and improve investor sentiment. Alphabet Set to Join and Honeywell International to Remain in Dow Jones Industrial Average
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies reaffirmed its Buy rating on Alphabet, reinforcing confidence in the company’s long-term outlook. Alphabet had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet remains a major AI infrastructure beneficiary, with reports noting accelerating demand at Google Cloud, quarterly cloud revenue above $20 billion, and strong enterprise AI adoption. Alphabet Rides on Accelerating AI Infrastructure Demand: What's Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Google DeepMind announced a $75 million AI research partnership with A24, signaling continued investment in AI applications outside core search and cloud. Google DeepMind signs AI research deal with film studio A24
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is still dominant in search, but new reports suggest competition from AI-powered alternatives is putting pressure on its long-term search leadership. Google's online dominance Is showing signs of cracking in AI era
• Negative Sentiment: Investor sentiment was hurt by the departure of key AI figures, including Noam Shazeer and John Jumper, raising concerns that Alphabet is losing talent to OpenAI and Anthropic. Alphabet paces for worst day in a year on AI concerns after high-profile exits
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports say Google’s search dominance may be starting to crack as users test non-AI or AI-free search options, adding pressure on the company’s core revenue engine. Google Losing Ground as Consumers Seek Out Non-AI Search
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market concern over heavy AI capital spending and higher rates also weighed on megacap tech shares, contributing to Alphabet’s weakness. Alphabet, SpaceX, Intel, and More Stocks That Explain Today's Market

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $346.66 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $166.13 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The company has a market capitalization of $4.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $368.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $332.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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