Blue Grotto Capital LLC Invests $11.64 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Blue Grotto Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 47,775 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,636,000. Alphabet makes up 1.3% of Blue Grotto Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the third quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Searle & CO. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 5,703 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 5,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 7,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total transaction of $184,038.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,624 shares in the company, valued at $6,325,999.52. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock worth $118,605,094. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 1st. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $343.90.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet closed its largest?ever acquisition, buying cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion — a move that strengthens Google Cloud’s security offering and could help accelerate enterprise cloud adoption. Google completes $32B acquisition of Wiz
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to monetize AI across products: Gemini is being added to Google Maps (“Ask Maps”) and Workspace (Docs/Sheets/Slides/Drive), which can drive engagement and incremental ad/cloud revenue over time. Google Adds Gemini AI to Google Maps
• Positive Sentiment: Google cut Android developer fees and expanded billing options, resolving a long dispute with Epic and enabling Fortnite’s return to the Play Store — a signal that policy changes may improve Play Store monetization and developer relations. Google App Store Brings Back Fortnite, Changes Fee Structure
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is combining its GFiber unit with Astound Broadband, retaining a minority stake while Stonepeak becomes majority owner — this monetizes a capital?intensive asset but limits future control/returns. Google sells partial stake in fiber business
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and institutional backdrop remains supportive: multiple upgrades, a large buy consensus and continued inflows help underpin the longer?term case even as the stock retraces; MarketBeat/analysis note $300 area as key technical support. Alphabet pullback and analyst coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Short?interest reports in recent feeds show zero or inconsistent figures (likely data anomalies), so don’t read too much into the reported “spike” — short interest appears not to be a driver today.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks: UK regulator pressure to protect children online and ongoing AI?related legal/competitive noise (lawsuits mentioned around Gemini) add headline risk that can pressure multiples for large tech names. Big tech warned to protect children online
• Negative Sentiment: Sizeable cash outlay for Wiz and heightened competition from other AI/cloud players mean investors may be cautious about near?term free?cash flow and integration risk despite strategic rationale. Google completes $32B purchase of Wiz

Alphabet Trading Down 1.7%

Alphabet stock opened at $303.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $319.64 and a 200-day moving average of $289.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $350.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 7.77%.

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.