Bensler LLC Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Bensler LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 115,813 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,649 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.9% of Bensler LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Bensler LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moment Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 9.3% during the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares during the last quarter. Brooktree Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $352,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,277,000 after buying an additional 7,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% in the second quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,415,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 933 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.55, for a total transaction of $314,001.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,337,229.80. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,067,686 shares of company stock worth $105,352,291. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. China Renaissance lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Loop Capital raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $260.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $359.44.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $318.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $349.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts boosted targets and reiterated buys, supporting upside case for growth from AI and cloud — Daiwa lifted its target to $380 and President Capital lifted its target as well. Daiwa raises price target on Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: EU granted unconditional antitrust approval for Google’s $32B acquisition of Wiz, removing a major regulatory obstacle for the company’s largest deal and supporting cloud/security growth expectations. EU clears Wiz acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expanded fully autonomous service in Nashville, signaling progress in commercializing a core long-term growth area beyond advertising. Waymo goes fully autonomous
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet increased the size of a multi-part debt sale (reports say the raise topped $30B) as demand strengthened — provides funding for AI infrastructure but raises questions about capital structure and long-duration liabilities. Alphabet boosts debt sale above $30B
• Neutral Sentiment: Company offered voluntary exit packages to some business-unit employees — could reduce costs but also reflects strategic reorganization and execution risk. Google offers buyouts to some staff
• Negative Sentiment: Report that Google handed personal and financial data on a student/journalist to ICE (via subpoena not approved by a judge) raises privacy/regulatory and reputational risk. Google sent student data to ICE
• Negative Sentiment: European Publishers Council filed an EU antitrust complaint about Google’s AI Overviews, adding regulatory pressure around search/AI monetization. Publishers file antitrust complaint
• Negative Sentiment: Autodesk sued Google over alleged trademark infringement for AI video tools and other legal skirmishes/consumer-safety litigation are piling up — added litigation risk. Autodesk sues Google
• Negative Sentiment: High-profile critics and some investors flagged Alphabet’s century‑long debt issuance as worrisome; public comments (e.g., Michael Burry posts) add negative market sentiment. Michael Burry warns on Google

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.