Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Buys 35,490 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Dana Investment Advisors increased its Alphabet stake by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 35,490 more shares and bringing its total position to 355,764 shares worth about $111.35 million.
• Alphabet posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $5.11 beating estimates and revenue of $109.9 billion topping expectations, while analysts remain broadly positive with an average Moderate Buy rating and $413.04 price target.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share and is drawing attention for continued AI and cloud expansion, including a larger capital plan for infrastructure and reported new Google Cloud deals.

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 355,764 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 35,490 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 3.2% of Dana Investment Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $111,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 17.6% in the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.2% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $85,557,000 after acquiring an additional 48,805 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.9% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,495,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,132,701. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% 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. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $372.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.39, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $351.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $327.52. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.00 and a 52 week high of $408.61. 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:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 6.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $393.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wedbush boosted their target price on Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $445.00 target price (up from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.04.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet raised its capital plan to $84.75 billion to fund AI infrastructure and cloud capacity, signaling it expects strong demand for compute and is willing to invest heavily to protect and grow its long-term AI position. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly tapped Google Cloud to help power a revamped Siri, which could add a high-profile customer for Alphabet’s cloud business and reinforce its AI infrastructure monetization story. PYMNTS article
• Positive Sentiment: Lovable expanded its multi-year Google Cloud relationship, another sign that Google Cloud is winning AI-related usage and customer growth. TechCrunch article
• Positive Sentiment: Needham reiterated a buy rating and a $450 price target, reflecting continued analyst confidence in Alphabet’s cloud and AI growth potential. Benzinga article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several prominent investors, including Berkshire Hathaway and ARK, were reported as buying Alphabet shares, which supports sentiment but does not change fundamentals on its own. Barron's article
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also received a softer-than-feared UK antitrust ruling that requires new conduct changes and lets publishers opt out of AI training, which may limit some data use but reduces the risk of a harsher regulatory outcome. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Google is quietly laying off staff in Cloud, including parts of its cybersecurity team, may weigh on sentiment by raising questions about cost discipline and internal restructuring. Business Insider article

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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