Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC Makes New $11.26 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 35,984 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,263,000. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.1% of Virtus Wealth Solutions LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Symmetry Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Members Trust Co boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,489,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, White Wing Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,155 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, April 20th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective (up from $360.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $407.86.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is deepening Gemini’s role across Android, Search, Chrome, and the Gemini app, with new agentic AI features that can complete multi-step tasks, which could strengthen user engagement and long-term monetization. Google races to put Gemini at the center of Android before Apple’s AI reboot
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet unveiled more AI-native products and updates, including Googlebooks laptops and new Gemini-powered Android features, underscoring that the company is pushing AI deeper into its ecosystem. Everything Google announced at its Android Show, from Googlebooks to vibe-coded widgets
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet announced an integration of Affirm and Klarna pay-over-time options into Google Pay, Search, and Gemini, which could improve conversion rates and make Google’s commerce ecosystem more valuable. Affirm Brings Pay-Over-Time Options to Google AI Platforms
• Positive Sentiment: Google-backed Isomorphic Labs raised $2.1 billion, highlighting Alphabet’s exposure to high-upside AI applications beyond search and advertising. Google-backed Isomorphic raises $2.1 billion to scale AI-driven drug discovery
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is reportedly considering a first-ever yen bond sale to help fund rising AI infrastructure spending, which supports growth plans but also signals higher capital needs. Alphabet considers first yen bond sale to fund AI goals
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo is recalling nearly 3,800 robotaxis over a software issue involving flooded roads, a reminder that Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit still faces operational and regulatory risk. Waymo to recall nearly 3,800 robotaxis over self-driving software issue

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,573,853.40. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $387.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.16 and a 1-year high of $402.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $323.56 and its 200 day moving average is $314.66. 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:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

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.