Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Purchased by Heartland Bank & Trust Co

Heartland Bank & Trust Co boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 165.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,574 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,226 shares during the quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 38,409.2% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,174,429,000 after buying an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in Alphabet by 850.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,551,938,000 after buying an additional 15,830,754 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after buying an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Pivotal Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $470.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $383.44.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly building a custom AI server chip, “Frozen v2,” to run Gemini more efficiently and reduce compute costs, which could improve long-term margins and support cloud growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet released new Gemini model variants, including cheaper and cybersecurity-focused versions, signaling continued AI product progress ahead of earnings.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive into earnings, with expectations for strong revenue growth and continued strength in Search and Google Cloud.
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are pricing in a meaningful post-earnings move, suggesting the stock could react sharply to Wednesday’s results either way.
• Neutral Sentiment: Senator Jerry Moran disclosed a purchase of GOOG shares, a modest signal of insider confidence but not a major market-moving catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Alphabet’s large AI and data-center spending, and the delayed Gemini Pro launch is adding to questions about execution and AI payoff.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing securities-fraud investigations create additional headline risk and may weigh on sentiment ahead of earnings.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $346.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $364.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $337.29. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $188.49 and a twelve month high of $404.47. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 1.45 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.81 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Alphabet 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.