Western Standard LLC Makes New $2.19 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Western Standard LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,191,000. Alphabet accounts for 1.0% of Western Standard LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Symmetry Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Members Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,489,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, White Wing Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,155 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $388.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.00 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $341.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $323.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google I/O 2026 showcased Alphabet’s expanding AI strategy, including new Gemini-powered models, upgraded search features, AI glasses, and ad products designed to monetize conversational search. This supports the case that Alphabet can defend and grow its core search business while creating new revenue streams. Google Flexes Its AI Muscles
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet also unveiled a more ambitious AI lineup, which suggests it is trying to stay ahead in the AI race and deepen integration across search, cloud, and advertising. Investors may see this as a sign of stronger long-term monetization. Alphabet Just Unveiled Its Most Ambitious AI Lineup Yet
• Positive Sentiment: Google is rolling out AI-powered ad formats that could improve ad performance and increase advertiser spending, helping offset fears that AI search will hurt ad revenue. Google rolls out AI-powered ad formats at Marketing Live
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned $15 billion Missouri AI data hub underscores its willingness to invest heavily in infrastructure to support future AI and cloud demand, which can reinforce investor confidence in growth durability. How Google’s $15 Billion Missouri AI Data Hub Strategy Could Reshape Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Investor Narrative
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is pushing for judicial oversight in Canada’s online safety bill, trying to limit the risk of secret orders that could weaken encryption. This is more of a legal/regulatory issue than a direct earnings catalyst, but it keeps policy pressure on the stock. Apple, Google push for judicial oversight in Canada online safety bill
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI’s ad efforts are being viewed as a potential threat to Google’s keyword-based search advertising model, raising investor concern that AI-native competitors could chip away at Alphabet’s core search franchise over time. OpenAI is building a new kind of ad machine. Early data suggests Google should worry.
• Negative Sentiment: A report that Waymo’s robotaxi service ended a ride early and directed a passenger to Uber or Lyft could add to worries about execution risks in Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle business, though this is a smaller issue for the stock than search or AI. A Waymo car ended a ride early, then the company told the passenger to get an Uber
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that DuckDuckGo installs are rising as users reject Google’s AI search experience suggest some user pushback against the company’s search changes, which could matter if it signals broader search-share risk. DuckDuckGo installs are up 30% as users reject being ‘force-fed’ Google’s AI Search
• Negative Sentiment: A reported EU antitrust fine against Google would reinforce regulatory overhang and could pressure sentiment if the penalty is confirmed. EU plans to fine Google high triple-digit million euro sum as part of antitrust investigation

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, CICC Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $412.65.

Alphabet 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.