Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock: Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Holdings

Key Points

• Deroy & Devereaux raised its Alphabet stake 12.3% in the third quarter, adding 2,199 shares to hold 20,102 shares valued at about $6.9 million.
• Alphabet’s latest quarter fell short of expectations: earnings per share were $2.12 versus a $3.02 consensus, while revenue was $127.58 billion versus forecasts of $127.96 billion.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $412.51; Alphabet also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share.

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 12.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,102 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,199 shares during the quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $35,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Premier Financial Group acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 180 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $280.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $270.70 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $336.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $339.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.02 by ($0.90). Alphabet had a return on equity of 43.33% and a net margin of 50.03%. The business had revenue of $127.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $127.96 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Investors of record on Monday, December 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of Alphabet 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 247 shares of company stock valued at $79,238. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $417.00 to $371.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $412.51.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue more than doubled year over year in the latest quarter, and its reported backlog was about $561 billion, highlighting strong enterprise demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is in preliminary discussions related to the U.S. “Golden Dome” defense initiative. A contract could create a new, recurring revenue stream and help monetize its infrastructure investments, though no deal has been confirmed. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google plans to make its AI tools opt-in for K-12 students, responding to concerns from educators and policymakers. Reports that restricting AI could also limit Search have drawn political criticism, creating reputational risk while the company adjusts its school policies. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent earnings concerns continue to weigh on the outlook: Alphabet missed quarterly EPS expectations, Search growth slowed, and AI-generated results may produce less advertising revenue than traditional Search. ChatGPT’s search volume is also reported at roughly 20% of Google’s, underscoring competition for users. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy AI infrastructure spending pushed free cash flow negative, and management expects capital expenditures to rise further. That raises questions about when the investment will generate sufficient returns and may help explain continued pressure on the shares after earnings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms publicized an existing securities class action concerning alleged statements about Gemini 3.5 Pro training results. The repeated notices do not indicate separate new cases, but the litigation could add legal and reputational risk. Read More.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known for its Google subsidiary. Google operates a global internet-services business centered on online search, digital advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and a broad range of cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools.

Google Cloud provides infrastructure, data analytics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software services to businesses, governments, and other organizations. Alphabet also develops consumer hardware, including Pixel devices and products for connected homes, while investing in emerging businesses through its “Other Bets” segment, including autonomous transportation and life sciences initiatives.

Alphabet was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring that made Google a subsidiary and provided a separate structure for its expanding portfolio of businesses.

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