Ketron Financial Takes $1.69 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Ketron Financial acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,368 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,685,000. Alphabet makes up 0.6% of Ketron Financial’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 76.2% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $330,886,000 after buying an additional 806,681 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,618,000 after buying an additional 3,616 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to draw bullish attention as investors highlight accelerating Google Cloud growth, improving margins, and a very large backlog that suggests strong demand for AI and cloud services. Alphabet: Google Cloud Is Outperforming Azure And AWS; $462 Billion Backlog Requires More AI Investments
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly increased its Alphabet stake significantly, which is being read as a strong vote of confidence in GOOG’s long-term outlook. Berkshire Hathaway Expands Alphabet (GOOGL) Stake to 58M Shares as Ackman Exits
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s major AI and data-center investments, including a reported $1.5 billion Alabama campus expansion and broader capex plans, are supporting the view that the company is buying future growth. Alphabet (GOOGL) Announces $1.5 Billion Investment Across 2026 And 2027 To Expand Its Alabama Data Center Campus

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $470.00 price target (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.78.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 160,516 shares of company stock worth $7,344,604 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $367.46 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $364.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $331.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.33 and a 52 week high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 6.71%.

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.