Norris Financial Group LLC Buys New Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Norris Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 13,152 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,782,000. Alphabet accounts for 1.2% of Norris Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue reportedly increased 82% in the second quarter, with backlog reaching $514 billion, while the Gemini app reached approximately 950 million monthly active users. The results reinforce the commercial demand supporting Alphabet’s AI and cloud investments. Google’s AI business is booming, so why are DeepMind’s biggest names quitting?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to highlight Alphabet’s strong cash generation, balance sheet and valuation relative to its growth prospects. Some market models see the shares reaching $400 as Cloud momentum and AI monetization continue. Price Prediction: Google Will Hit $400 on This Date
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s expanded Google Cloud partnership with AI lab Mirendil, reportedly worth more than $100 million over multiple years, provides another example of demand for its computing infrastructure. Mirendil Google Cloud deal

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total transaction of $27,337.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,305,738.46. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 600,547 shares of company stock valued at $16,255,540. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Freedom Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $419.86.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $354.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.80, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $355.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $340.41. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.60 and a twelve month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.42%.

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.