6,026 Shares in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Acquired by USA Financial Formulas

USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 6,026 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,891,000. Alphabet comprises about 0.3% of USA Financial Formulas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Tradewinds LLC. raised its stake in Alphabet by 2,134.8% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 45,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,984,000 after buying an additional 43,080 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 29,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,381,000 after acquiring an additional 2,341 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 354,529 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $86,345,000 after acquiring an additional 84,553 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 221,391 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,920,000 after acquiring an additional 2,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank of Texas bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $900,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $294.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $350.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $310.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $296.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 7.77%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness and higher price targets: Wells Fargo and other brokers have raised price targets and reiterated Buy calls, highlighting growing opportunities to monetize Google Cloud and AI services — a direct positive for revenue/valuation expectations. Wells Fargo Raises PT on Alphabet (insidermonkey)
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional backing: quant/hedge players such as D. E. Shaw are shown as bullish in recent filings and write-ups, signaling continued big?holder conviction which supports investor demand and multiple expansion. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL): D. E. Shaw Is Bullish (Yahoo Finance)
• Positive Sentiment: New lower-cost / developer-focused AI models: Google rolled out cheaper video and music-generation models (Veo 3.1 Lite, Lyria 3 Pro) that expand addressable market for AI services and could drive higher Cloud/API usage and monetization. Google Introduces Veo 3.1 Lite (TipRanks)
• Positive Sentiment: New consumer hardware + recurring revenue push: Google is developing a screenless Fitbit band with subscription?based health coaching — a product + service combo that could grow wearables ARR and cross?sell Google’s AI services. Google Develops Screenless Fitbit Band (Yahoo Finance)
• Neutral Sentiment: Market breadth and macro risk-on helped mega-cap tech: Alphabet’s move is also part of a broader rally in large-cap growth and ETFs (QQQ/VTI) — a market?driven tailwind rather than company?specific news. What’s Going On With Alphabet Stock? (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Research leadership — quantum computing paper: Google research published findings on quantum risks to crypto, underscoring R&D leadership but not an immediate revenue driver; it can boost technical credibility. Google Paper Warns of Quantum Computing Risk for Bitcoin (Yahoo Finance)
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory / content risk on YouTube: Over 200 child?development experts urged Google to block AI?generated videos aimed at kids, raising potential content?policy and moderation costs and reputational risk for YouTube. Experts urged Google to prohibit AI Videos targeting young YouTube users (Invezz)
• Negative Sentiment: High level of insider selling and prior legal worries: Recent SEC filings show continued insider sales and media pieces point to ongoing legal/antitrust scrutiny — both are negative sentiment drivers that can cap near?term multiple. Insider Sale: President of $GOOGL Sells 1,300 Shares (QuiverQuant)

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $348.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $345.71.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,405,091.71. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,092,234 shares of company stock valued at $112,487,971. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Alphabet

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.