First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• First Fiduciary Investment Counsel increased its Alphabet stake by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, adding 8,500 shares to bring its total to 39,535 shares valued at about $12.4 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $5.11 versus the $2.64 estimate and revenue of $109.9 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on Alphabet, with several analysts raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target of $411.23.

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,535 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,500 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.4% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $416,217,000. Sovran Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,241 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 50,064 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,171,000 after acquiring an additional 8,746 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,666,577 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $405,131,000 after acquiring an additional 60,831 shares during the period. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 72,608 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,740 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total transaction of $9,859,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,674,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $508,028,012.80. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,187,638.65. This represents a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 257,931 shares of company stock worth $36,886,538. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $396.94 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $331.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $318.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google and Blackstone reportedly plan to launch a new AI cloud company, a move that could expand demand for Alphabet’s specialized chips and deepen its presence in enterprise AI infrastructure. Google, Blackstone to create new AI cloud company, WSJ reports
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is heading into Google I/O with expectations for major AI announcements, and analysts are watching for updates on Gemini, agentic commerce, and in-house TPU chips that could strengthen its competitive position. Google I/O primer: Alphabet's AI showcase is its chance to wow Wall Street
• Positive Sentiment: Arete Research raised its price target on Alphabet to $425 from $405 and kept a buy rating, signaling continued upside confidence from analysts. Arete Research adjusts price target on Alphabet to $425 from $405
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Alphabet’s strong momentum this year, with AI demand, cloud growth, and Berkshire Hathaway’s much larger stake helping validate the bullish case. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet disclosed insider-share sales by a major shareholder, but the transactions appear routine and were reported through standard SEC filings. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet also faces ongoing headline risk from its YouTube youth-safety settlement and broader scrutiny around AI and platform responsibility, though these issues look secondary to the company’s current AI-driven optimism. Alphabet’s $5 Trillion Milestone: How AI Ambitions Are Fueling Google’s Record Run

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. New Street Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $397.00 to $361.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, China Renaissance boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $411.23.

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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