Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,474,000. Alphabet makes up 1.3% of Godfrey Financial Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Kentucky Trust Co grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $364.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $356.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $329.17. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.00 and a twelve month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.71%.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Gemini app reportedly doubled its monthly users to 900 million, reinforcing the company’s momentum in consumer AI and supporting the case that its AI investments are translating into real usage.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remains constructive, with one report citing TD Cowen’s view that Alphabet could rise further by 2027, reflecting ongoing confidence in its earnings power and AI/cloud growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was highlighted as a long-term value-and-growth story, with its search cash engine funding a growing cloud and AI franchise at what some analysts view as an attractive valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s recent convertible preferred offering and related financing coverage suggest it still has strong access to capital as it expands AI infrastructure, which can help fund growth initiatives.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s large AI spending plans remain a key debate, with some analysts warning that rising capex could weigh on near-term profitability even if it supports future growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position change, so it does not appear to be a major driver of the stock move.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports linking Alphabet to major AI compute deals and supplier arrangements, including Google Cloud usage by other tech firms, reinforce its strategic importance in AI but are not directly tied to near-term earnings.
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles focus on pressure from Alphabet’s aggressive AI infrastructure spending, including concerns that capex could compress margins and make investors more cautious about the stock’s high expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: One report specifically warned that Alphabet’s net profit margin deserves closer scrutiny after the stock’s strong run, suggesting investors may be increasingly sensitive to any slowdown in profitability.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Arete Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $445.00 target price (up from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial set a $415.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 in the last quarter. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.