Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV

Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV trimmed its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 52.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,544 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,206 shares during the quarter. Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Waymo plans to expand driverless rides to four more major cities this year, with a phased rollout that could broaden Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle opportunity and reinforce its leadership in robotaxis. Waymo Plans to Expand Driverless Cars to 4 More Major Cities This Year
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to be highlighted as a beneficiary of massive AI infrastructure spending, with analysts pointing to strong demand for cloud expansion, data centers, and AI hardware. 3 Top-Ranked Stocks Riding on Massive AI Infrastructure Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was cited as an indirect way to gain exposure to Anthropic ahead of a possible IPO, since the company already holds a major private stake in the AI startup. Want Anthropic Exposure Before the IPO? These 2 AI Giants Are Already There (GOOGL)
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly added a $10 billion private placement investment in Alphabet, a sign of institutional confidence that could support sentiment in the stock. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Successor, Greg Abel, Just Bought More of This Magnificent Tech Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Cognizant deepened its Google Cloud partnership to accelerate enterprise AI adoption, which underscores Alphabet’s cloud relevance but is not a direct financial catalyst by itself. Cognizant Strengthens AI Portfolio Through Google Cloud Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s upcoming Pixel launch event on August 12 keeps hardware in view, but this is more of a product-calendar reminder than an immediate stock-moving catalyst. Google’s Pixel event is set for August 12
• Negative Sentiment: Google updated the Chrome Web Store to ban prediction market transactions, a policy move that may be seen as restrictive and could attract backlash from affected users and developers. Google Bans Prediction Market Transactions Amid Backlash
• Negative Sentiment: One article noted Alphabet shares were already slipping versus the broader market, adding to the intraday weakness as traders weigh valuation and AI competition concerns. Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Sees a More Significant Dip Than Broader Market: Some Facts to Know

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore raised their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,345,358.56. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511 over the last quarter. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $361.92 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $372.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $335.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $172.77 and a 1-year high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

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.