Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. Sells 2,600 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 31.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,704 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.4% of Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Symmetry Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Members Trust Co grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,489,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Insight 2811 Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Warren Buffett said he initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s Alphabet investment, a high-profile endorsement that is helping sentiment around Alphabet (GOOGL). Warren Buffett tells CNBC he initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst previews say Alphabet’s AI momentum, cloud backlog, and earnings growth expectations could support another strong quarter, keeping investors upbeat ahead of results. Alphabet’s AI Spending Question Looms Over Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Alphabet to strong-buy, citing earnings growth expectations and attractive fundamentals relative to its valuation. Zacks upgrade to strong-buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet expanded its clean-energy commitments with its largest solar and battery storage purchase yet, which supports its long-term infrastructure strategy but is not an immediate earnings driver. Google’s biggest clean power project is 40 miles north of xAI’s unpermitted gas power plant
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also drew attention for a new collaboration with INVIDI Technologies to extend addressable advertising to set-top boxes, a potentially helpful ad-tech expansion but still early-stage. INVIDI Technologies Collaborates with Google to Integrate Google Ad Manager
• Negative Sentiment: The European Commission is preparing new fines against Google, renewing regulatory risk and adding pressure to Alphabet’s legal overhang. EU Prepares to Fine Google as Part of Increased Big Tech Enforcement
• Negative Sentiment: Google is also fighting antitrust scrutiny in Europe and Switzerland, including efforts to preserve a court ruling that overturned a $1.7 billion EU fine and a new Swiss probe over Android search defaults. Google urges EU top court to back ruling scrapping $1.7 billion antitrust fine
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reports raised concerns about Google’s AI search tools and a DeepMind researcher’s resignation over the company’s Pentagon work, both of which could add reputational risk. A DeepMind researcher resigned over its AI military deal

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $445.00 price target (up from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Dbs Bank increased their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $390.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.73.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% 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 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $370.92 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $180.48 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $370.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $337.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

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.