Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Braun Stacey Associates raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% to 312,330 shares (worth about $97.76 million), making Alphabet 3.2% of the fund's portfolio and its fifth-largest holding.
• Alphabet beat quarterly estimates with $2.82 EPS vs. $2.57 expected and $113.83 billion in revenue, and analysts have grown more bullish—MarketBeat shows a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target of $367.06 following multiple upgrades.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently: CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares and insiders disposed of roughly 2.07 million shares (~$104.5 million) in the last quarter, though insiders still own about 11.55% of the company.

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 312,330 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,396 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.2% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $97,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 24,901 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,794,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors raised its stake in Alphabet by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors now owns 17,552 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,494,000 after purchasing an additional 4,988 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $257,000. Finally, Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 6,189 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Alphabet from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, February 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $367.06.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $332.82 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.10 and a twelve month high of $349.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.79, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.12. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $306.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.18.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS and other analysts pointed to the extended Broadcom–Google agreement as easing investor concerns about TPU supply and long-term AI infrastructure continuity—this reduces a key operational risk for Google’s cloud/AI growth story. Broadcom deal with Google signals stronger AI demand but long-term risks remain: UBS
• Positive Sentiment: Citi put Alphabet on a 90-day “upside Catalyst Watch,” flagging a cluster of product, event and AI-related catalysts that could lift the stock into July—an institutional signal that near-term momentum may continue. Citi is bullish on Google stock in near term ahead of several catalysts
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic’s expanding partnership with Broadcom and Alphabet on custom AI chips reinforces Google’s role as an AI infrastructure provider and supports upside for TPU monetization opportunities. Did Anthropic, Alphabet, and Broadcom Just Say Checkmate to Nvidia?
• Positive Sentiment: High‑profile investors continue to add to positions (Stanley Druckenmiller materially increased his Alphabet stake), a demand signal that can support price momentum. Stanley Druckenmiller Made 1 Huge Bet That Still Looks Attractive Today and Cut 2 Top Positions
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst moves and price-target changes: some firms raised/maintained bullish targets while others trimmed forecasts—keeps sentiment constructive but highlights divergent views on upside magnitude. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Product and ecosystem activity ahead of Google Cloud Next (partners showcasing AI-native tools) supports ongoing enterprise demand narratives but is incremental vs. headline catalysts. groundcover Showcases AI-Native Observability at Google Cloud Next 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Antitrust risk resurfaced as rival app store Aptoide sued Google alleging monopoly over Android app distribution and billing—this could increase legal and regulatory scrutiny, potentially leading to fines or business changes if it gains traction. Google sued by rival app store Aptoide over alleged monopoly
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure in advertising: reports project Meta could overtake Google in global digital-ad revenue this year, and Meta’s new Muse Spark model is reinvigorating its ad-product momentum—both trends pose downside risk to Google’s core ad growth. Meta poised to surpass Google in digital ad revenue for first time, report says
• Negative Sentiment: Ad-quality and fraud concerns (new “pushpaganda” scam) highlight ongoing risks to user trust and publisher/advertiser effectiveness on Google surfaces, which could pressure monetization if widespread. HUMAN’s Satori Researchers Identify Novel Ad Fraud and Scareware Threat, Pushpaganda

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total transaction of $33,934.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,418 shares in the company, valued at $5,580,469.82. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total value of $10,006,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,068,744 shares of company stock worth $104,505,914 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Company 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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