IMC Chicago LLC Acquires 85,674 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• IMC Chicago LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 131.3% in Q4, adding 85,674 shares to hold 150,920 shares valued at about $47.36 million.
• Company insiders have sold 158,553 shares worth roughly $47.95 million over the past 90 days — including John Kent Walker's 47,574-share sale — while insiders still own about 12.99% of the stock.
• Alphabet beat Q1 estimates with EPS of $5.11 (vs. $2.68 expected) and revenue of $109.90 billion (+21.8% YoY), and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share (ex-dividend June 8).

IMC Chicago LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 131.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,920 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 85,674 shares during the quarter. IMC Chicago LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $47,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,721 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $542,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 89.7% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,724 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,014,000 after buying an additional 13,583 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 5,586 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,753,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,821 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,513,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 33,373 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,534,000 after buying an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 momentum and Anthropic cloud deal continue to underpin the rally — social and analyst chatter notes a post-earnings surge, AI-fueled ad strength and a reported ~$200B Anthropic commitment that materially boosts Alphabet’s cloud backlog and revenue visibility. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets — Mizuho and other firms have raised forecasts and targets (examples around $460+), supporting upside expectations and helping push the stock higher. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying reported — a handful of funds disclosed fresh additions (Swiss National Bank, Allen Investment, Fisher Asset among others), signaling conviction from large holders. Read More. • Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: New consumer products and subscription moves could expand monetization but are early-stage — Google launched the Fitbit Air wearable and an AI health-coach subscription, which add recurring-revenue potential but are not yet material to near-term results. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulatory risk remains — Alphabet has proposed changes to news search to head off additional multibillion-euro fines, highlighting ongoing antitrust exposure that could pressure European revenue or require product changes. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider and some institutional selling — data show heavy insider sales in recent months and several large funds (Deutsche Bank, CalPERS, Madison) trimmed GOOG positions, which can cap short-term upside and increase volatility. Read More. • Read More.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DZ Bank raised shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $470.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $362.73.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $395.30 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.83 and a 1 year high of $397.36. The firm's 50 day moving average is $317.19 and its 200-day moving average is $311.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25. 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:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

Alphabet Company 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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