Whelan Financial Buys 1,824 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Whelan Financial grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,159 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,824 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.9% of Whelan Financial’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Whelan Financial’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% in the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley increased its holdings in Alphabet by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 121.3% in the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Needham analyst Laura Martin reaffirmed a Buy on Alphabet and left her $330 price target intact — a vote of confidence from a seasoned tech analyst that supports investor sentiment. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst Josh Beck set an upbeat target for GOOGL ahead of earnings, reflecting expectations that AI momentum could drive an earnings beat. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Nvidia and Alphabet’s VC arm participated in a $200M round for AI video startup Synthesia at a $4B valuation — a sign Alphabet continues to back startups that extend AI-driven ad and media offerings. That validates the firm’s ecosystem play. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage continues to highlight Alphabet’s AI and cloud strength — including partnerships like Apple’s use of Gemini — reinforcing the narrative of sustained secular growth in AI-driven search and cloud revenue. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Weekend roundups and feature pieces (TipRanks, The Motley Fool) emphasize AI-fueled upside and the stock’s strong run, but they largely reiterate existing bullish arguments rather than introducing new catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Alphabet’s CEO sold about $10.6M of stock — a headline that can prompt short-term concern even if such sales are often scheduled or diversification-driven. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Industry risk: commentators warn OpenAI’s emerging ad model could disrupt the Meta/Alphabet ad duopoly, introducing uncertainty about future ad monetization and pricing power. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Legal headline: a report claims Google (with Apple) will pay a combined ~$163M to settle suits over alleged voice-data collection — a reputational/legal cost that, while modest relative to Alphabet’s size, adds noise for investors. Article Title

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $328.55 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $316.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $341.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.28%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total value of $800,786.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 11,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,884.14. This trade represents a 19.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 225,187 shares of company stock worth $69,365,318. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.13.

Alphabet 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.