Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Has $10.47 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,505 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.1% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $32,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynch Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $395.30 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.83 and a fifty-two week high of $397.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $317.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $311.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. 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 $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 momentum and Anthropic cloud deal continue to underpin the rally — social and analyst chatter notes a post-earnings surge, AI-fueled ad strength and a reported ~$200B Anthropic commitment that materially boosts Alphabet’s cloud backlog and revenue visibility. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets — Mizuho and other firms have raised forecasts and targets (examples around $460+), supporting upside expectations and helping push the stock higher. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying reported — a handful of funds disclosed fresh additions (Swiss National Bank, Allen Investment, Fisher Asset among others), signaling conviction from large holders. Read More. • Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: New consumer products and subscription moves could expand monetization but are early-stage — Google launched the Fitbit Air wearable and an AI health-coach subscription, which add recurring-revenue potential but are not yet material to near-term results. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulatory risk remains — Alphabet has proposed changes to news search to head off additional multibillion-euro fines, highlighting ongoing antitrust exposure that could pressure European revenue or require product changes. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider and some institutional selling — data show heavy insider sales in recent months and several large funds (Deutsche Bank, CalPERS, Madison) trimmed GOOG positions, which can cap short-term upside and increase volatility. Read More. • Read More.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Truist Financial set a $385.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $470.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total value of $37,842.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,908,391. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet 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.