Iowa State Bank Purchases 6,399 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Iowa State Bank increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,241 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,399 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.7% of Iowa State Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $21,944,208,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,338,397,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17,667.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,686,640,000 after purchasing an additional 15,159,273 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 51.7% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,607,232,000 after purchasing an additional 10,843,853 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. UBS Group set a $348.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.18.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $301.00 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $349.00. 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 market cap of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $317.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.58.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were given 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, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DeepMind hired Jasjeet Sekhon, Bridgewater’s chief scientist, as chief strategy officer — a high‑profile talent win that reinforces Alphabet’s DeepMind AI bench and long‑term product roadmap. Exclusive: Bridgewater’s chief scientist Sekhon to join Google’s DeepMind AI unit
• Positive Sentiment: High‑profile endorsement: Elon Musk tweeted that Google will “win the AI race in the West,” a bullish signal for market perception of Alphabet’s AI leadership. Elon Musk Says China Will Win The AI Race, But Here’s Where SpaceX Will Win
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum: Google’s new “Stitch” AI design features are pressuring rivals (e.g., Figma’s stock fell), underscoring expanding addressable market for Google’s AI tools. Figma’s stock drops 11% in two days after Google releases ‘vibe design’ product
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlights Alphabet’s operational strength (consecutive earnings beats, Cloud acceleration), supporting the bullish analyst consensus and relative outperformance among mega‑caps. 2 Tech Giants Holding Their Ground While the Market Slides
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales disclosed: CEO Sundar Pichai sold ~32,500 shares (~$10M) and Director John Hennessy sold a small stake — notable but small relative to total insider holdings; monitor if these continue. Insider filing: Sundar Pichai sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in the feeds appears anomalous/zero and provides no clear signal (no days‑to‑cover build reported).
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive takes: Analysts compare Snowflake and Alphabet on cloud analytics — SNOW’s momentum is notable but doesn’t negate Google Cloud’s growth trajectory. Snowflake vs Alphabet: Which Cloud Analytics Stock Has an Edge Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern about massive hyperscaler AI spending — analysts flag $410B+ capex across hyperscalers and question near‑term returns, a theme that can pressure tech multiples including GOOGL. Forget the War Headlines: This Is the Real Reason Tech Stocks Are Struggling
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation debate persists: coverage notes shifting investment story as AI deals and capex raise questions about near‑term upside despite solid fundamentals. How The Alphabet (GOOGL) Investment Story Is Shifting With AI Deals And Valuation Questions

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,955,564. This trade represents a 8.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.