Gradient Investments LLC Acquires 47,390 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 492.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 57,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,390 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,017 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,517,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 5,911 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,850,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,832,050 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $889,175,000 after buying an additional 45,365 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 327,368 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $103,625,000 after buying an additional 6,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chesapeake Asset Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC now owns 3,511 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,099,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $290.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $315.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 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 paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $367.18.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Alphabet is among stocks that have received multiple analyst upgrades and raised price targets after strong AI and cloud results, underpinning longer‑term upside expectations. Zacks: Alphabet is a strong growth stock
• Positive Sentiment: Gemini monetization / retail tie‑ups: Gap will enable checkout inside Google’s Gemini, a step toward direct commerce monetization for the AI platform. This could help diversify revenue beyond search advertising. CNBC: Gap becomes first to offer checkout within Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud & partnerships: New deals — Openreach using Google AI to speed fibre rollout and BMO/CME launching a tokenized cash platform on Google Cloud — highlight enterprise demand for Google Cloud services and potential revenue tailwinds. Reuters: Openreach taps Google AI Reuters: BMO to launch tokenized cash platform with CME and Google Cloud
• Neutral Sentiment: Robotics / AI roadmap: DeepMind/Google partnership activity (e.g., Agile Robots) signals long‑term AI/robotics ambitions but is capital‑intensive and will take time to monetize. CNBC: Google partners with Agile Robots
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/market structure watch: EU antitrust meetings with Big Tech and Google’s initiative in India to label verified investment apps are regulatory items to monitor — could mean more oversight but also proactive controls limiting consumer harm. Reuters: EU antitrust chief meets tech CEOs Reuters: Google to label verified investment apps in India
• Negative Sentiment: Landmark LA verdict — legal overhang: A Los Angeles jury found Google’s YouTube (and Meta’s Instagram) negligent in a youth social‑media addiction case, awarding compensatory damages and moving to a punitive phase. The decision creates precedent risk, could spur additional suits, and has been cited as a near‑term driver of selling pressure. Reuters: Jury reaches verdict in Meta, Google trial BusinessWire: $3M compensatory verdict
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/earnings risk: Investors remain concerned about Alphabet’s very large 2026 capex guidance, rising energy costs for AI/data centers, and a recent pullback in the stock — factors that could compress near‑term returns despite long‑term growth potential. Barron’s: Google stock slides toward bear market territory

Alphabet Company 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.