WMS Group LLC Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• WMS Group LLC opened a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter, buying 2,780 shares valued at about $872,000. Alphabet now makes up 1.1% of the fund’s portfolio and is its 25th-largest holding.
• Other institutional investors have also been adding to their Alphabet stakes, with several funds reporting meaningful increases. Overall, about 27.26% of Alphabet’s stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Alphabet’s fundamentals and outlook remain strong: the company beat quarterly earnings estimates, posted 21.8% revenue growth, and recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share. Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus rating of Buy.

WMS Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,780 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $872,000. Alphabet accounts for 1.1% of WMS Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 76.2% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $330,886,000 after acquiring an additional 806,681 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% in the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to draw bullish attention as investors highlight accelerating Google Cloud growth, improving margins, and a very large backlog that suggests strong demand for AI and cloud services. Alphabet: Google Cloud Is Outperforming Azure And AWS; $462 Billion Backlog Requires More AI Investments
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly increased its Alphabet stake significantly, which is being read as a strong vote of confidence in GOOG’s long-term outlook. Berkshire Hathaway Expands Alphabet (GOOGL) Stake to 58M Shares as Ackman Exits
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s major AI and data-center investments, including a reported $1.5 billion Alabama campus expansion and broader capex plans, are supporting the view that the company is buying future growth. Alphabet (GOOGL) Announces $1.5 Billion Investment Across 2026 And 2027 To Expand Its Alabama Data Center Campus

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 1st. Phillip Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $376.78.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,132,701. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 160,516 shares of company stock valued at $7,344,604. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $367.46 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $364.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $331.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.33 and a 1-year high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during 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%.Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

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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