Spire Wealth Management Has $32.77 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Spire Wealth Management raised its Q4 stake in Alphabet by 12% to 104,441 shares worth $32.77 million, making GOOG its 11th-largest holding (about 1.1% of the firm's assets).
• Significant insider selling occurred recently — John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares for roughly $14.34 million, and insiders disposed of about 2,092,234 shares (~$112.49 million) over the past three months, while insiders still hold ~13% of the stock.
• Analysts remain bullish with a MarketBeat consensus "Buy" and $345.71 price target, supported by a Q4 earnings beat (EPS $2.82 vs. $2.59) and 18% revenue growth; Alphabet also pays a small quarterly dividend of $0.21 (0.3% yield).

Spire Wealth Management raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 104,441 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,187 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Spire Wealth Management's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Spire Wealth Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 145.0% in the third quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 196 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 56.8% in the third quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 218 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the sale, the director owned 4,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,405,091.71. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,092,234 shares of company stock valued at $112,487,971. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.8%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $294.90 on Thursday. The company's 50 day moving average is $310.41 and its 200-day moving average is $296.32. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $350.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.15 EPS. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 7.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Friday, December 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $345.71.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street bullishness — analysts have raised or reiterated high price targets (Wells Fargo lift tied to Google Cloud monetization; Needham reaffirmed a $400 target), supporting upside expectations for GOOG. Wells Fargo Raises PT on Alphabet Needham Reiterates Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional and notable investor interest — long‑running D. E. Shaw position and reported bets from prominent investors (e.g., Paul Tudor Jones, Stanley Druckenmiller) are read as confidence in Alphabet’s AI/cloud growth story. D. E. Shaw Is Bullish
• Positive Sentiment: AI product & efficiency catalysts — launches and upgrades (Veo 3.1 Lite, Lyria 3 Pro) plus claims of large memory‑efficiency gains (TurboQuant) improve competitive positioning and lower AI operating costs, which supports Google Cloud margins and investor sentiment. Veo 3.1 Lite Lyria 3 Pro AI efficiency / market reaction
• Positive Sentiment: Macro / flow support — broad risk‑on session and gains in tech heavy ETFs (QQQ, SPY contributors) are lifting mega‑caps like GOOG as index momentum and passive flows benefit large holdings. ETF/Index flow contribution
• Neutral Sentiment: Longer‑term cloud/ad market tailwinds — coverage pieces highlight Google Cloud’s rapid revenue/backlog growth and a secular rise in digital ad spend, which are supportive fundamentals but are already priced in to some extent. Digital ad spend theme Cloud & AI infra context
• Neutral Sentiment: New hardware/service experiments (e.g., screenless Fitbit band with subscription model) point to product diversification but are early stage for revenue impact. Fitbit band report
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and content risks — groups of child‑development experts and some governments are pressing Google/YouTube over AI‑generated content for kids; Indonesia has summoned Google over child social media curbs — these raise reputational and compliance risk for YouTube monetization. Experts urge YouTube action Indonesia summons Google
• Negative Sentiment: Legal worries & insider selling — ongoing legal headlines and repeated insider sales (documented filings) create short‑term volatility and investor caution. Legal woes piece Insider sale

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.