Ceera Investments LLC Takes $697,000 Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Ceera Investments LLC bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,431 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $697,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 29,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,381,000 after acquiring an additional 2,341 shares during the last quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 275,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $86,596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 60,739 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,060,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 190,654 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $59,827,000 after purchasing an additional 15,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Violich Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 340,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $106,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly building a custom AI server chip, “Frozen v2,” to run Gemini more efficiently and reduce compute costs, which could improve long-term margins and support cloud growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet released new Gemini model variants, including cheaper and cybersecurity-focused versions, signaling continued AI product progress ahead of earnings.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive into earnings, with expectations for strong revenue growth and continued strength in Search and Google Cloud.
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are pricing in a meaningful post-earnings move, suggesting the stock could react sharply to Wednesday’s results either way.
• Neutral Sentiment: Senator Jerry Moran disclosed a purchase of GOOG shares, a modest signal of insider confidence but not a major market-moving catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Alphabet’s large AI and data-center spending, and the delayed Gemini Pro launch is adding to questions about execution and AI payoff.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing securities-fraud investigations create additional headline risk and may weigh on sentiment ahead of earnings.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on GOOG. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group set a $430.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $383.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5%

GOOG stock opened at $346.19 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $188.49 and a one year high of $404.47. The firm has a market cap of $4.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $364.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $337.29. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.71%.

Alphabet Company 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.