Focus Financial Network Inc. Acquires 35,343 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 48.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,987 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,343 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.2% of Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $33,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $31,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $53,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Corsicana & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $54,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.3%

Alphabet stock opened at $274.34 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $313.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $295.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $349.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $385.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Alphabet from $279.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. China Renaissance lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total transaction of $33,934.88. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,580,469.82. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 2,110,165 shares of company stock valued at $118,134,117 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and price-target raises reinforce bullish medium-term views — Wells Fargo raised its price target and kept an Overweight rating, and Needham reaffirmed its Buy with a $400 target; MarketBeat and other outlets note heavy analyst upgrading of GOOGL. These moves support upside expectations despite short-term weakness. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI innovation (TurboQuant / Gemini traction) is being framed as a competitive advantage — the company’s new compression research and Gemini adoption could lower AI operating costs and drive product differentiation, strengthening long-term revenue prospects. This is part of why some analysts lifted estimates and price targets. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals remain solid: recent earnings beat, robust cloud growth and advertising resilience provide a valuation anchor and a reason many institutions view pullbacks as buying opportunities. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical correction — the stock has moved below $300 and broken key short-term support, which can amplify volatility even if the longer-term trend stays intact; investors should watch $280–$260 support zones. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Executive departure in India: Google’s top India counsel resigned amid ongoing regulatory challenges in a key market, a factor to monitor for regional regulatory execution but not an immediate earnings driver. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Landmark jury verdicts finding YouTube/Google liable in social-media addiction cases have created legal overhang and the possibility of broader litigation or regulatory exposure — courts and commentators compare potential fallout to past “Big Tobacco”-style settlements, increasing perceived legal risk for Alphabet. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: New lawsuits allege Google’s search/AI features disclosed personal information of Jeffrey Epstein victims; such privacy/AI-related claims add another legal/regulatory headline that can pressure sentiment and increase potential litigation costs or product changes. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech selloff — geopolitical war worries and landmark Meta legal losses have sparked rotation out of large-cap tech this week, amplifying Alphabet’s decline despite company-specific strengths. Market risk sentiment is a near-term headwind. Read More.

Alphabet Company 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.