Greenwood Gearhart LLC Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Greenwood Gearhart LLC raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 161,621 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,687 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.5% of Greenwood Gearhart LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Greenwood Gearhart LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $46,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates, driven by strong search, ads, and especially Google Cloud growth. S&P 500, Nasdaq close lower ahead of technology earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud growth accelerated sharply on AI demand, reinforcing the case that Alphabet’s AI investments are translating into revenue. Google quarterly cloud revenue growth beats expectations
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube ad revenue rose 13%, adding another sign that Alphabet’s core advertising business remains resilient. YouTube Ad Revenue Rises 13% In Q2 To Surpass $11 Billion
• Positive Sentiment: Google said Gemini has reached 950 million monthly active users, suggesting improving traction in consumer AI. Google’s Gemini app nips at ChatGPT’s heels as it nears 1 billion users

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. UBS Group set a $430.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $386.88.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $341.91 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $363.69 and a 200-day moving average of $337.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $188.70 and a 52 week high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $6.23. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.34 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.