Ethic Inc. Acquires 23,840 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its Alphabet stake by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, adding 23,840 shares and bringing its total holdings to 565,295 shares worth about $177.4 million. Alphabet is now Ethic’s fifth-largest position and makes up roughly 2.7% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet continues to draw strong Wall Street support, with analysts assigning a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $363.40. Several firms recently reiterated or raised bullish targets, including Raymond James at $425 and Wells Fargo upgrading the stock to strong buy.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $5.11 versus estimates of $2.68 and revenue of $109.9 billion, up 21.8% year over year. Alphabet also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21.

Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 565,295 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 23,840 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.7% of Ethic Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $177,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Towne Trust Company N.A grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynch Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $61,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $348.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $363.40.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $393.11 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.99, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.33 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $329.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $318.18.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total value of $9,877,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,818,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $856,605,814.08. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,405,091.71. This trade represents a 18.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 257,931 shares of company stock valued at $36,886,538. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are looking for major AI announcements at Google I/O, including Gemini upgrades, agentic commerce features, and TPU chip progress, which could reinforce Alphabet’s leadership in AI. Google I/O primer: Alphabet's AI showcase is its chance to wow Wall Street
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America expects broad AI product updates across Search, Chrome, and Android, supporting the view that Alphabet can keep monetizing AI across its core platforms. Google I/O preview: Bank of America expects major AI push across Search, Chrome, and Android
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly increased its Alphabet position again, a high-profile signal that some large investors still see upside in the stock. Warren Buffett's Successor, Greg Abel, Just Sold 16 Stocks, but Piled Into an AI Titan That's Now a Top-5 Position for Berkshire Hathaway
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights Alphabet’s strong fundamentals, including a powerful earnings beat, cloud backlog growth, and AI-driven efficiency gains, which have helped justify the rally. Alphabet: The $462B Backlog Crushed The Bear Case, But At 30x P/E I'm Trimming To Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple hedge fund and billionaire portfolio updates show mixed views on Alphabet, with some managers adding while others trimmed positions, which may limit the stock’s near-term reaction. Pershing Square trims Alphabet Class C stake by 5.85M shares
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet disclosed insider-like selling by a major shareholder, which can create slight pressure if investors interpret it as profit-taking after the recent run-up. SEC filing

About Alphabet

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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