HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Buys 3,043 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 154,446 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,043 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.8% of HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $37,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HORAN Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 55,018 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,375,000 after acquiring an additional 2,859 shares during the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 56,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,630,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.8% during the third quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 48,099 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,693,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 23.3% during the third quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,601 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003 shares during the period. Finally, Triglav Investments D.O.O. raised its stake in Alphabet by 4.9% during the third quarter. Triglav Investments D.O.O. now owns 226,771 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $55,126,000 after purchasing an additional 10,548 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total value of $184,038.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,325,999.52. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,079,982 shares of company stock worth $109,267,889. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $302.85 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $349.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $320.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $277.46.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued 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 payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group set a $348.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Alphabet from $305.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. CICC Research raised their price objective on Alphabet from $240.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.86.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google and Apple are adding music-focused generative-AI features to core apps, showing Alphabet’s AI tech is moving into mainstream consumer experiences that can drive engagement and ad/licensing opportunities. Google Gemini, Apple add music-focused generative AI features
• Positive Sentiment: Google will develop AI tools with Sea Ltd for e-commerce and gaming in Southeast Asia — a tie-up that expands Google Cloud and AI reach in high-growth markets, boosting potential cloud revenue. Google, Shopee-owner Sea to develop AI tools for e-commerce, gaming
• Positive Sentiment: Industry mega-deals like the NVIDIA–Meta expansion reinforce massive, multiyear demand for AI compute — a tailwind for Google Cloud (inference/deployment demand) as hyperscalers lock in infrastructure spending. NVIDIA and Meta Deepen Their AI Alliance
• Positive Sentiment: Big investors remain supportive: Berkshire Hathaway kept its Alphabet stake in recent filings and other high-profile investors (e.g., David Tepper) have increased exposure — signals of institutional confidence in Alphabet’s cloud/AI strategy. Berkshire & AI Hyperscalers: Buffett Holds GOOGL, Dumps AMZN
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking Holdings’ stock-split/earnings story spotlights Google’s Travel/AI booking capabilities — the piece underscores competitive dynamics (Google can disintermediate travel booking) but it’s more relevant as industry context than an immediate revenue swing for Alphabet. Booking Holdings Split: The Catalyst Wall Street Didn’t See Coming
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director John Hennessy sold 600 shares (filed in mid-February) — a small but visible insider sale that can amplify short-term selling narratives. Alphabet Director John Hennessy Sells 600 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo/regulatory and operational noise: New York regulatory shifts and scrutiny around remote-assistance in robotaxis constrain Waymo’s expansion and keep a regulatory overhang on Alphabet’s AV ambitions. New York Gov. Hochul drops robotaxi service proposal for outside NYC
• Negative Sentiment: Service reliability and cost concerns: A YouTube outage and commentary about Alphabet’s heavy CapEx for AI compute contribute to short-term profit-taking and worries about near-term margins. YouTube outage hits over 32,000 users

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.