IFP Advisors Inc Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

20 Mar 2026, 11:06 by Tristan Rich · The Markets Daily

IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG – Free Report) by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,785 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,436 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.6% of IFP Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 200.0% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 840 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 3,882,633 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $688,740,000 after buying an additional 306,204 shares in the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 2,325 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PKS Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,101 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,260,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. The trade was a 78.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the sale, the director owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,405,091.71. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,110,165 shares of company stock worth $118,134,117. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

Positive Sentiment: New CVS partnership (Health100) expands Gemini AI into consumer healthcare and creates a potential commercial channel across pharmacy, insurance and wearables — a tangible monetization path for Gemini models. Read More.
Positive Sentiment: DeepMind hired Bridgewater’s chief scientist Jasjeet Sekhon as chief strategy officer — a high‑profile AI talent acquisition that strengthens research and commercial push vs. OpenAI/Anthropic. Read More.
Positive Sentiment: Product momentum: Google’s updated Stitch / AI design tools are getting market traction and have pressured competitors (Figma, Adobe), signaling faster adoption of Google’s developer/designer workflows. Product wins can accelerate monetization of AI features. Read More.
Positive Sentiment: Operational: Google signed utility deals to curb data‑center power use during peaks, helping secure capacity for AI workloads and reducing the risk of power shortages for new data centers. Read More.
Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud strengthened security via the Wiz buyout, improving its enterprise positioning against AWS/Azure — supportive for enterprise AI adoption and higher‑margin cloud growth. Read More.
Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory: Google will add an opt‑out for generative AI in search to address UK competition concerns — reduces near‑term regulatory friction but could limit product scope in the UK. Read More.
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/market context: Strong analyst sentiment, recent dividend initiation and high price targets support longer‑term confidence but leave valuation sensitive to execution and capex. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Sundar Pichai and other insiders have executed large, repeated sales this month — amplifies short‑term caution and can pressure sentiment. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: Supply‑chain/geopolitical risk: Greater reliance on Chinese suppliers for advanced liquid‑cooling (and possible acquisition) improves capacity but raises export, regulatory and geopolitical risk for AI infrastructure. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: Macro/valuation risk: Ongoing hyperscaler AI capex is large and raises questions about the timing of returns — a counterweight to optimistic AI revenue narratives and a potential drag on near‑term multiples. Read More.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2%

GOOG stock opened at $305.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $350.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $318.27 and a 200 day moving average of $292.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Pivotal Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. DA Davidson set a $300.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $348.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $345.71.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Alphabet

About Alphabet

(Free Report)

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.