Hodges Capital Management Inc. Purchases 1,490 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 21.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,368 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% in the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $85,557,000 after purchasing an additional 48,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is being highlighted by analysts and market commentators as a top large-cap or “monopoly” stock, with bullish takes pointing to its AI-enabled ad business, cloud exposure, and strong earnings outlook. Here’s Why Alphabet (GOOGL) Is One of the Best Monopoly Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds
• Positive Sentiment: Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis called for a U.S.-led AI standards body, reinforcing Alphabet’s leadership role in frontier AI development and potentially supporting long-term investor confidence. Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis calls for U.S. to spearhead AI standards body
• Positive Sentiment: INVIDI announced a collaboration with Google to expand addressable advertising on unconnected set-top boxes, a potentially incremental ad monetization opportunity for Alphabet. INVIDI Technologies Collaborates with Google to Integrate Google Ad Manager…
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports say Alphabet continues to outperform the market and remains favored by growth investors, but these are mostly commentary pieces rather than new business developments. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also digesting broader optimism around Alphabet’s valuation, cash generation, and AI chip strategy, which supports the stock but does not appear to be the main driver of the move. Google Vs. Nvidia: The Hidden Silicon Advantage That Could Let Google Dethrone Nvidia
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet is facing fresh antitrust scrutiny in Switzerland over the removal of the Android “choice screen,” adding to regulatory pressure on its search dominance. Google probed by Swiss regulator over Android default search feature
• Negative Sentiment: Google also faces a new class-action lawsuit from publishers and authors alleging improper use of copyrighted works to train Gemini, raising legal and potential cost risks. Google faces another AI training lawsuit from major publishers
• Negative Sentiment: UK and Swiss regulatory actions targeting Google Search and Android data portability also weigh on sentiment because they could weaken Alphabet’s search moat over time. Should UK Search Data Portability Rules For Google Reshape Alphabet’s Competitive Moat (GOOGL) Narrative?

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOGL. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (down from $410.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.73.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $359.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $180.48 and a 12 month high of $408.61. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $371.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $337.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

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.