Arax Advisory Partners Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Arax Advisory Partners decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 68.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,011 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 142,354 shares during the quarter. Arax Advisory Partners’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its position in Alphabet by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s drone-delivery unit Wing expanded into seven more U.S. cities with Walmart, reinforcing that its Other Bets can scale into real businesses and may be more valuable than the market gives them credit for.
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo launched a $29.99 monthly membership program, adding a recurring-revenue layer to its robotaxi business and highlighting rapid growth in paid rides, which investors may see as a meaningful long-term opportunity.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst and commentary pieces remain constructive on Alphabet’s AI, cloud, and search setup, with some calling it an AI powerhouse and lifting price targets, which supports the stock’s bullish narrative.
• Positive Sentiment: Google is also expanding its real-estate listings nationwide and continuing to deepen its AI infrastructure and chip strategy, reinforcing multiple growth avenues beyond search advertising.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google filed suit against an alleged Chinese cybercrime group that used AI to scam victims, a move that shows the company is actively defending its platforms, though the stock impact is likely limited unless the issue escalates.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet declined a $2 billion U.S. quantum-computing funding program, saying the terms could slow development; that may be viewed as a strategic choice rather than a major financial event.
• Neutral Sentiment: News that some billionaire investors sold Alphabet in Q1 while others bought more adds to the debate, but it does not change the underlying business fundamentals by itself.
• Negative Sentiment: Some recent coverage continues to focus on worries about rising capital expenditures and AI monetization, which can pressure sentiment if investors fear Alphabet’s AI spending will take longer to pay off.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI Overview feature has also faced renewed controversy, adding another small overhang around search quality and user trust.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $376.78.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $358.16 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.33 and a 52 week high of $404.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $357.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $329.44.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 193,016 shares of company stock worth $17,282,549 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.