Gries Financial LLC Acquires 2,478 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Gries Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 37.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,184 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,478 shares during the quarter. Gries Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5,585.7% in the 1st quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 398 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 88,405 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,682,000 after buying an additional 3,055 shares during the period. Private Client Services LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 42.7% in the second quarter. Private Client Services LLC now owns 10,263 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,069 shares during the period. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 8.2% during the second quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 32,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,713,000 after acquiring an additional 2,454 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.0%

GOOG opened at $329.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $306.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.04. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $331.48. The company has a market cap of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. 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 issued its 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.28%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total value of $800,786.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 11,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,383,884.14. This trade represents a 19.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 227,965 shares of company stock worth $67,495,822. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets boost upside expectations for GOOG, with Canaccord and others lifting targets well above prior levels — a direct catalyst for buying interest. Canaccord Raises PT to $390
• Positive Sentiment: AI product momentum: reports show Gemini gaining share versus ChatGPT and Gemini-powered features rolling into Gmail at scale — this supports stronger ad/search monetization and cloud expectations. Gemini Gains Market Share
• Positive Sentiment: Market-cap milestone: Alphabet briefly overtook Apple as the world’s No.2 public company — a sign of investor confidence that can attract index/ETF flows and reinforce momentum. Alphabet Surpasses Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Wiz acquisition pending EU approval by Feb.10 — approval would remove a large M&A overhang; rejection would be a setback. Outcome is material but binary. EU to Decide on Wiz Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo branding/product updates signal long-term autonomy growth but limited near-term EPS impact; watch commercialization cadence. Waymo Rebrands Robotaxi
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/reputational pressure: three Democratic senators urged Apple and Google to suspend X and Grok from their app stores over sexualized images of minors created via AI — a headline that raises moderation/regulatory scrutiny for app stores and Google’s ecosystem. Senators Call to Suspend X and Grok
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure from AI products: Alphabet and Character.AI settled suits alleging AI chatbots harmed minors (including a teen suicide), underscoring potential costs, regulation and reputational risk. AI Lawsuit Settlements
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and talent movement: CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed a multi-million-dollar share sale; separately, Nvidia hired a Google marketing veteran — both can weigh on near-term sentiment and raise questions about insider cashing and talent retention. Pichai Share Sale

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.18.

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.