Brookstone Capital Management Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,058 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,708 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meritas Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Meritas Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 7,208 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,756,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the third quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 11,881 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,894,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of the South grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the third quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 8,800 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intergy Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,813 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet has outperformed other Magnificent Seven members YTD (about +66%) which underpins momentum and investor confidence in GOOG’s AI/search-led growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BMO and other sell‑side commentary highlight accelerating AI-driven cloud commitments as a structural growth catalyst for Google Cloud revenue and margins — supports higher earnings multiples for GOOG. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s acquisition of Intersect (data‑center/energy infrastructure) is a strategic move to scale capacity for AI workloads — likely positive for long‑term cloud/AI positioning (capex & integration risk remain). Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary and price‑target updates remain bullish (multiple recent buys/overweights and median targets near/above current levels), reinforcing institutional demand; large funds (UBS, Berkshire, Fidelity) materially added positions in Q3. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Industry comparisons point to Alphabet’s AI momentum (Search + Cloud) as a competitive edge versus other AI names like Adobe — a narrative likely to attract growth and momentum money. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Product improvements — Google is testing a way to let some users change Gmail addresses without losing data. Helpful for user satisfaction but low near-term revenue impact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces and buy‑the‑dip narratives (MarketBeat, Motley Fool) may sustain retail interest; they support sentiment but aren’t new fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose ~35% in December (to ~56.15M shares), increasing potential downside pressure and volatility if sentiment weakens. (Higher days‑to‑cover also raises squeeze risk but signals more bearish positioning.)
• Negative Sentiment: Quiver/other data flag heavy insider selling (multiple senior executives sold shares recently), which some investors view as a cautionary signal on near‑term conviction. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Operational note: Waymo paused SF robotaxis during extreme weather — minor near‑term PR/operational impact, but highlights autonomous mobility regulatory/operational risks. Article Title

Alphabet Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $314.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $296.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.93. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $328.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 228,906 shares of company stock worth $63,984,117. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Raymond James Financial set a $275.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Loop Capital raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $313.04.

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.