6,768 Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Purchased by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 405,785 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,768 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 3.9% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $138,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 58.6% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 128,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $43,775,000 after purchasing an additional 47,468 shares in the last quarter. Hudock Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.4% in the third quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,334,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. West Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 2,466.8% in the third quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 72,999 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,874,000 after purchasing an additional 70,155 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 6,734 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,294,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $257,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 420,865 shares of company stock worth $8,293,477 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $422.10.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target to $425 from $420 and maintained an Overweight rating. The firm cited sustained Google Cloud growth and Alphabet’s ability to remain competitive in artificial intelligence. Alphabet Stocks Rise as JPMorgan Lifts Target on Cloud Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to generate positive AI momentum. Gemini 4 Argon reportedly scored highly on accounting and enterprise benchmarks, while Google demonstrated a quantum-computing technique that could reduce errors significantly. These developments support the company’s positioning against OpenAI, Anthropic and other rivals. Gemini 4 Argon Accounting Benchmark
• Positive Sentiment: New commercial initiatives—including Google’s Universal Cart shopping tool, a multiyear AI partnership with CNN and potential YouTube audiobook offerings—could broaden monetization across Search, Gemini and YouTube. Google Universal Cart Launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are looking ahead to Alphabet’s upcoming earnings, with analysts generally bullish on AI and cloud growth. However, the company’s substantial data-center and AI infrastructure spending raises questions about near-term free cash flow and returns on capital. Alphabet Q3 Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms are promoting a securities class action alleging that Alphabet failed to disclose disappointing Gemini training results. The repeated notices and December lead-plaintiff deadline create a reputational and potential litigation overhang, although they do not represent new operating results. Alphabet Securities Fraud Lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Google warned that suspected China-linked hackers may exploit a vulnerability in BeyondTrust software, adding cybersecurity and trust concerns. Separately, renewed fears over stretched AI valuations and competition for digital advertising could limit further gains. Google Warns of BeyondTrust Exploitation Risk

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of GOOG opened at $344.91 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $244.67 and a 1 year high of $404.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $341.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $348.88. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.19.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent company of Google. Established in 2015 through a corporate restructuring, Alphabet oversees Google and a collection of businesses focused on technology, innovation and emerging industries. Sundar Pichai serves as Alphabet’s chief executive officer and also leads Google.

Google is Alphabet’s primary business and operates an internet ecosystem that includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Photos.