Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Has $48.83 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,790 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.6% of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $48,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ring Mountain Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC now owns 919 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC now owns 4,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding Gemini with new tools aimed at small businesses, which could help broaden adoption and monetize AI services. Google Debuts Gemini Features Geared to Small Businesses
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s support for Anthropic’s $35 billion AI infrastructure financing deal reinforces its central role in AI buildout and could boost cloud demand. Google Backs $35 Billion Anthropic AI Infrastructure Financing Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Gemini monthly users have doubled highlight strong product momentum and strengthen the long-term AI growth story. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Reports Doubling of Gemini App Monthly Users to 900 Million
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s reported $920 million-per-month AI compute deal with SpaceX may support future growth, but it also signals rising infrastructure spending and AI competition costs. Google’s $920 Million-a-Month Deal Could Supercharge the SpaceX IPO
• Negative Sentiment: A fire at a third-party data center caused intermittent Google Cloud disruptions in India, which could raise reliability concerns for some customers. Fire at third-party facility disrupts Google Cloud network traffic in India
• Negative Sentiment: A California judge denied Google’s request for a new trial in the youth social media addiction case, leaving legal liability concerns in place. Meta and Google denied new trial after landmark verdict in youth social media addiction case

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $353.32 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $355.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $328.84. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.33 and a 1 year high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company’s revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Freedom Capital cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $376.78.

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.