Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 20.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,726 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,315 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $1,699,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $4,941,000. Painted Porch Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 4,051 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,271,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $646,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Key AI researchers have left Alphabet for competitors, intensifying worries that the company is losing critical talent needed to lead in generative AI. Reuters: Google DeepMind signs AI research deal with film studio A24
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also worried that Alphabet’s aggressive AI spending plans, including a large equity raise to fund infrastructure and compute, could dilute shareholders and pressure free cash flow. Quiver Quantitative: Alphabet Slides as AI Funding Plan Fuels Dilution Worries
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also announced a $75 million AI research partnership with A24, showing it is still investing in new AI use cases, but this was overshadowed by the talent-loss narrative. TechCrunch: Google DeepMind bets $75M on AI’s future in Hollywood with A24 deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain strong, with Alphabet’s latest quarter beating expectations on both earnings and revenue, which helps offset some of the negative sentiment. Alphabet stock page

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 160,516 shares of company stock valued at $7,344,604 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. 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. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $376.78.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $348.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $364.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $331.41. 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 12-month low of $163.33 and a 12-month high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 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.