Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by SFE Investment Counsel

SFE Investment Counsel lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,286 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,882 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.8% of SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Landmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Sage Financial Management Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Sage Financial Management Group Inc. now owns 1,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. TrueWealth Financial Partners purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $220,000. BG Investment Services LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. BG Investment Services LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Finally, Rayburn West Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $377,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Six research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $372.65.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary says Alphabet was one of the biggest winners among the Mag 7 this earnings season, helped by accelerating Google Cloud sales and broader AI-driven strength. Alphabet and NVIDIA: The Biggest Mag 7 Winners This Earnings Season
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted Alphabet’s new AI ad formats and shopping tools as potential catalysts for stronger search monetization, higher conversion rates, and increased ad spending. Alphabet’s new AI ad formats seen boosting conversions and spending
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet also announced a large $15 billion data center and AI infrastructure investment in Missouri, reinforcing investor confidence in its cloud and AI buildout. Google Deepens Missouri Roots with New Data Center, Energy, and Community Investments
• Neutral Sentiment: Google unveiled new AI search and agent features at I/O, which could improve engagement over time, but the rollout also raised concerns about complexity and possible disruption to the traditional search experience. You can no longer Google the word ‘disregard’
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo temporarily paused some robotaxi and freeway services after safety issues in flooded roads and construction zones; while this is not core to Alphabet’s profits, it adds execution risk and negative headlines. Waymo suspends freeway rides, pauses Atlanta operations amid safety fixes
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet has appealed the U.S. search-monopoly ruling, keeping antitrust overhang and potential remedies in focus for investors. Google appeals US court ruling on search monopoly

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $379.38 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.33 and a twelve month high of $404.47. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $335.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $320.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.94, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is a boost 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%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

About Alphabet

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.