Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 130,936 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,987 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.5% of Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $40,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $416,217,000. Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 22,219 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,241 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 50,064 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,171,000 after acquiring an additional 8,746 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,666,577 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $405,131,000 after acquiring an additional 60,831 shares during the period. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 72,608 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,652,000 after acquiring an additional 3,740 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,187,638.65. This represents a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.00, for a total transaction of $37,842.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,908,391. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 158,553 shares of company stock valued at $47,951,856 over the last 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Alphabet Trading Up 2.5%
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 13.86 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.41%.
Key Stories Impacting Alphabet
Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s blockbuster Q1 and broader Mag‑7 earnings strength underpin the rally — the company beat EPS and revenue expectations and markets are rewarding AI/cloud leaders. Here’s Why Alphabet (GOOGL) is a Strong Growth Stock
- Positive Sentiment: Large commercial commitments: Anthropic reportedly committed to spend ~$200 billion on Google Cloud and chips over five years — a potential multi‑year revenue stream for Cloud and AI infrastructure. Anthropic commits to spending $200 billion on Google’s cloud and chips
- Positive Sentiment: Investor confidence in Alphabet’s AI spending shows in debt markets — its largest-ever euro bond sale attracted strong demand, supporting funding for capex and AI investments. Alphabet’s euro bond offering sees strong demand
- Positive Sentiment: Product/tech optionality: DeepMind’s new minority stake to train AI on the complex MMORPG EVE Online and internal work on a 24/7 agent (“Remy”) highlight unique data/training opportunities and product roadmaps that could extend monetization. Google DeepMind Will Train AI Models on the MMORPG Eve Online Google is building an AI agent that could be its answer to OpenClaw
- Neutral Sentiment: Macro/sector backdrop is supportive: analysts and outlets note a record aggregate Q1 for corporate earnings and continued AI spending that benefits hyperscalers like Alphabet. Record Earnings Expected in 2026 Q1
- Neutral Sentiment: Strategic moves in AI compute: Alphabet moving to sell TPUs directly could broaden revenue but also reshapes competitive dynamics with Nvidia — mixed for margins and partner relationships. Google Moves to Sell TPUs Directly
- Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk in Europe resurfaced — Google offered search-results changes to avert additions to €9.5B in EU competition fines, keeping legal uncertainty and potential remediation costs on the table. Google moves to avert EU fines with offer in news search case
- Negative Sentiment: Privacy/data concerns and worker unrest: a top Google scientist warned EU data‑sharing measures risk user privacy, and DeepMind employee union activity highlights reputational and execution risks. Top Google scientist says EU data measures pose privacy risk UK Google DeepMind employees vote to unionize
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $390.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp set a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $406.71.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Alphabet
About Alphabet
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.
Further Reading
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