Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. Acquires 3,224 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 63.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,224 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 0.6% of Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co increased its position in Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $361.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.60, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.00 and a 1-year high of $408.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $347.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $325.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s $10 billion investment signals strong outside confidence in Alphabet’s AI and cloud strategy. Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion for AI goals, Berkshire to invest $10 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to argue that Alphabet remains a high-margin cash generator with attractive long-term earnings power. Google: AI Skeptics Proven Wrong as Business Booms
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of Alphabet’s expanding AI coding, hardware, and device strategy highlights broader growth opportunities, but it is not the main driver of today’s move. Microsoft and Google are late to AI coding, but ‘absolutely critical’ they compete for growth
• Negative Sentiment: The proposed $80 billion stock sale raises dilution concerns and underscores how expensive Alphabet’s AI race has become. Exclusive: EU cloud rules to curb Amazon, Google access to strategic tenders, draft document shows
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that EU cloud rules could restrict Google’s access to strategic government tenders add a regulatory overhang for the cloud business. Alphabet to raise $80 billion in equity capital for AI spending

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $393.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. President Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.04.

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.