Bellwether Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Bellwether Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 16.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,215 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,771 shares during the quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $460.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $410.09.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $319.09 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $188.70 and a 12 month high of $404.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $360.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $337.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,345,358.56. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet posted a strong Q2 beat, with revenue and EPS coming in ahead of expectations, while Google Cloud revenue surged 82% and cloud margins improved sharply.
• Positive Sentiment: AI and product demand remain strong, with management saying AI usage is rising across Search, Cloud, and Gemini, supporting the long-term growth story.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts reiterated bullish views or raised targets, and multiple commentary pieces argued the stock looks attractive after the pullback.
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon signed a deal worth more than $1 billion with Google for dark fiber connectivity, adding another sign of infrastructure demand tied to Alphabet’s data-center buildout. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo is reportedly considering ending its Uber partnership, which could affect how quickly Alphabet’s robotaxi business scales, but the direct financial impact is still unclear. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also disclosed a large SpaceX stake and saw some institutional holders trim positions, but these items are secondary to the main debate over AI spending and cash flow.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors were unnerved by Alphabet’s higher CapEx guidance and negative free cash flow, which raised concerns that AI spending may be outpacing near-term returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet was also hit by an EU antitrust fine of about $1 billion, adding another regulatory overhang. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Moody’s warned that the industry-wide AI buildout could threaten credit quality at Alphabet and other hyperscalers, reinforcing concerns about balance-sheet strain from heavy infrastructure investment. Article Title

About Alphabet

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.