Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Acquired by Heartland Bank & Trust Co

Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 165.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,574 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,226 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly building a custom AI server chip, “Frozen v2,” to run Gemini more efficiently and reduce compute costs, which could improve long-term margins and support cloud growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet released new Gemini model variants, including cheaper and cybersecurity-focused versions, signaling continued AI product progress ahead of earnings.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive into earnings, with expectations for strong revenue growth and continued strength in Search and Google Cloud.
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are pricing in a meaningful post-earnings move, suggesting the stock could react sharply to Wednesday’s results either way.
• Neutral Sentiment: Senator Jerry Moran disclosed a purchase of GOOG shares, a modest signal of insider confidence but not a major market-moving catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Alphabet’s large AI and data-center spending, and the delayed Gemini Pro launch is adding to questions about execution and AI payoff.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing securities-fraud investigations create additional headline risk and may weigh on sentiment ahead of earnings.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. KeyCorp set a $445.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, July 10th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $383.44.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5%

Alphabet stock opened at $346.19 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $188.49 and a twelve month high of $404.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $364.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $337.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 6.71%.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.