Vericrest Private Wealth Acquires Shares of 1,654 Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Vericrest Private Wealth bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,654 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $518,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.5% of Vericrest Private Wealth’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Winthrop Partners WNY LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $876,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,365,000. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,765,000. DUTCH ASSET Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,250,000. Finally, Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,226,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the sale, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at $7,132,701. The trade was a 0.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 160,516 shares of company stock valued at $7,344,604 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $349.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market cap of $4.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $367.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $332.31. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.00 and a 1-year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. 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 yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 6.71%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet and DeepMind announced a new AI research partnership with film studio A24, including about $75 million of investment, showing continued efforts to commercialize AI in creative tools. Google DeepMind signs AI research deal with film studio A24
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive on Alphabet’s AI spending, arguing that its cloud growth and AI investments could still be monetized over time. Morgan Stanley sees monetization potential in Google AI spending
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s cloud business continues to grow quickly and remains a key long-term driver, but heavy AI spending is also increasing near-term cost concerns. Is Alphabet the Best “Magnificent Seven” AI Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet stock is falling more than the broader market as investors worry about a high-profile AI talent exodus from Google DeepMind and Gemini leadership. Alphabet paces for worst day in a year on AI concerns after high-profile exits
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Google DeepMind scientist John Jumper left for Anthropic added to fears that Alphabet is losing key AI researchers to competitors. Alphabet Is Now Cheaper Than What Berkshire Paid
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo’s recall of 3,871 robotaxis after a software glitch is another reminder that Alphabet’s autonomy business still faces execution risk. Waymo Just Recalled 3,800 Robotaxis. Is Google’s Self-Driving Dream Hitting a Wall?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. New Street Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Arete Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

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.