Ethos Financial Group LLC Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its Alphabet stake by 12.2% in the first quarter, buying 6,095 more shares and bringing its total to 56,017 shares worth about $16.2 million.
• Alphabet reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting $5.11 EPS versus the $2.68 estimate and revenue of $109.9 billion, up 21.8% from a year earlier.
• Despite recent insider selling and a 2.2% drop in the stock, analysts remain largely bullish, with an average price target of $383.44 and multiple firms reiterating buy ratings.

Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 12.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,017 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,095 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.2% of Ethos Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Ethos Financial Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A increased its stake in Alphabet by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $346.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market cap of $4.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $184.73 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $366.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $336.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America and Wedbush remain bullish, with both highlighting strong cloud growth, AI monetization potential, and upside to the stock ahead of earnings. Alphabet could crush estimates on Cloud strength, Anthropic windfall: BofA
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors are still pointing to accelerating Google Search and Google Cloud growth, while retail interest and institutional ownership remain strong ahead of the July 22 report.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI and cloud businesses remain central to the bullish thesis, with multiple articles noting that the company could benefit from rising AI infrastructure spend and strong earnings expectations.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 1st. KeyCorp set a $445.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, April 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $383.44.

Alphabet Profile

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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