Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 161,963 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,685 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.3% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $39,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley raised its position in Alphabet by 60.0% in the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 58.7% during the second quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 121.3% in the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $184,914.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,872.04. This represents a 13.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total value of $31,971.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,706,357.25. The trade was a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 195,465 shares of company stock valued at $57,056,497 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $275.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $314.64.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $314.55 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $304.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.26. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $328.67. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street upgrades and higher price targets lift the growth narrative for Google Cloud and AI; Jefferies recently raised its target to $365 and many firms maintain buy/outperform calls, supporting longer-term upside. Jefferies raises price target
• Positive Sentiment: Product & commercial traction for Gemini and AI is improving distribution: Samsung plans to double devices running Gemini to ~800M units this year — a major scale tailwind for Gemini adoption across mobile. Samsung to double Gemini devices
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure push: initiatives like TorchTPU, increased TPU patenting and moves to reduce Nvidia dependence, plus cloud/infrastructure M&A, strengthen Alphabet’s ability to monetize AI at scale. These strategic moves are supportive of margins and competitive positioning. Seeking Alpha on TorchTPU & infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Small lobbying disclosure: ~$80k reported for Google Public Sector work on DoD cloud services — notable for contract tracking but not material by itself. Quiver lobbying disclosure
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy insider selling is a clear near-term negative: Quiver data shows 161 insider sales in six months (including large Sundar Pichai sales), which can spook investors and fuel profit-taking. Quiver on insider selling & sentiment
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive risks: OpenAI/ChatGPT usage metrics show Gemini narrowing the gap, but competition remains intense — news flow comparing market share can pressure sentiment and prompt volatility. CNBC: ChatGPT vs Gemini

About Alphabet

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.