Verus Capital Partners LLC Buys 4,350 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 118,664 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,350 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.3% of Verus Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $37,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Platform Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $25,134,000. Harold Davidson & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Harold Davidson & Associates Inc. now owns 21,203 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 7,000,907 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,191,284,000 after purchasing an additional 806,221 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 19,552 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McGrath & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $240,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $445.00 target price (up from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Dbs Bank raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $356.38 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.00 and a 52 week high of $408.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $357.80 and a 200-day moving average of $329.64.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,132,701. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank raised its FY2026 and FY2027 EPS estimates for Alphabet, signaling confidence in the company’s earnings outlook and AI/cloud-driven growth. Veteran Analyst Firm Resets Alphabet Forecast for 2027
• Positive Sentiment: Google expanded Gemini features for small businesses, which could help drive broader adoption of its AI tools and support future subscription revenue. Google Debuts Gemini Features Geared to Small Businesses
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Gemini app monthly users doubled to 900 million reinforce Alphabet’s momentum in AI products and its ability to monetize a large user base. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) Reports Doubling of Gemini App Monthly Users to 900 Million
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s valuation is being scrutinized after a strong run, with some market coverage focusing on whether recent momentum can continue at the same pace. Alphabet (NasdaqGS:GOOGL) Valuation Check As Share Price Momentum Cools After Strong Year
• Negative Sentiment: Google and Meta were denied a new trial in the youth social media addiction case, leaving a legal overhang in place for Alphabet’s YouTube business. Market Chatter: Google, Meta Platforms Denied New Trial in Youth Social Media Addiction Case by California Judge
• Negative Sentiment: News that Gemini and Google Workspace AI tools experienced outages could weigh on sentiment around product reliability, even if the impact is likely temporary. Gemini Is Down? Live Updates on Google Workspace’s AI Errors
• Negative Sentiment: A Reuters report said a fire at a third-party facility caused intermittent Google Cloud network disruptions in India, highlighting operational risk for the cloud business. Fire at third-party facility disrupts Google Cloud network traffic in India
• Negative Sentiment: A broader warning that the AI data-center buildout may be less certain than expected could pressure sentiment across hyperscalers, including Alphabet, if investors worry about returns on heavy AI infrastructure spending. Wall Street’s $800 Billion AI Data Center Bet Is Showing Cracks

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.