Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,509,020 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,770 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.7% of Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,009,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI and earnings momentum remain the main catalyst. Alphabet’s recent quarterly results substantially exceeded expectations, with revenue of $119.8 billion versus the $117.1 billion consensus estimate. Analysts and investors are increasingly viewing the company’s heavy AI spending as supporting accelerating cloud revenue and future monetization. AI stocks have bottomed
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo is showing progress toward commercialization. Alphabet-owned Waymo removed the waitlist for its Dallas robotaxi service, expanding access as it scales across the United States and internationally. Separate analysis reported that Waymo vehicles have materially lower crash rates than human-driven vehicles, strengthening the long-term case for the business. Waymo expands Dallas robotaxi service
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s commercial AI reach is broadening. Oracle is deepening its integration with Google Gemini, while Google also secured computing and strategic partnerships involving SpaceX, Paris Saint-Germain and renewable-energy developer RWE. These deals could support enterprise adoption, cloud demand and infrastructure reliability. Oracle deepens Gemini integration
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is participating in White House AI discussions. Google, OpenAI and Anthropic met with administration advisers regarding voluntary safety testing and a proposed AI oversight framework. Clearer rules could eventually benefit large platforms, although new compliance requirements remain uncertain. White House AI safety meeting
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and regulatory risks are limiting the upside. Pomerantz LLP is investigating potential investor claims, while an advocacy group urged courts to require Google to divest Chrome. Alphabet also faces renewed scrutiny over alleged exclusionary ad-tech practices. These matters could lead to fines, structural remedies or increased operating restrictions. Chrome divestiture advocacy
• Negative Sentiment: AI infrastructure commitments create financial risk. Alphabet is among several hyperscalers facing roughly $1.09 trillion in future data-center lease payments, raising concerns about capital intensity and returns if AI demand or monetization slows. Big Tech data-center lease burden

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total value of $3,832,277.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 600,547 shares of company stock valued at $16,255,540. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $390.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, CICC Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $419.86.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $377.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.67 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $357.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $339.91. The firm has a market cap of $4.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.07 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

Alphabet Company 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.