Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. reduced its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 340,303 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,084 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.3% of Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $120,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,850 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 298.2% in the 2nd quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,854,000 after purchasing an additional 16,647 shares in the last quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 340,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $106,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Montchanin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $7,075,000. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 13.3% during the second quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,489 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,773,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Alphabet from $418.00 to $411.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research set a $460.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Six investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway significantly increased its Alphabet position. Berkshire owned approximately 106 million shares worth $37.9 billion at the end of June after raising its stake by 83% during the second quarter. Alphabet is now Berkshire’s third-largest U.S.-listed equity holding, a notable vote of confidence under CEO Greg Abel. Berkshire Hathaway boosts Alphabet to a top three holding
• Positive Sentiment: Digital advertising estimates improved. July advertiser spending exceeded consensus expectations, supporting the outlook for Alphabet’s core advertising business. Alphabet also launched Gemini 3.7 Flash for coding and automated business workflows, potentially expanding monetization opportunities in enterprise AI. Internet stock advertising estimate revisions
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s SpaceX investment has become a major unrealized asset. The company disclosed that its roughly $900 million investment in SpaceX is now worth about $94 billion, highlighting the value of Alphabet’s venture portfolio, although the gain does not directly represent operating revenue or cash flow. Alphabet’s SpaceX bet grows 100-fold
• Positive Sentiment: Other institutions also added exposure. UniSuper increased its GOOG and GOOGL holdings, while several major funds reported purchases, reinforcing the perception that Alphabet remains attractively valued after its recent pullback.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google expanded Gemini access in schools and introduced tools allowing users to remove visible watermarks from AI-generated content while retaining invisible SynthID protections. These moves could improve adoption but have uncertain near-term financial effects. Google turns on Gemini AI for students
• Negative Sentiment: Gemini lost chatbot-visit share to ChatGPT in July. Although Gemini surpassed one billion monthly active users, its share of chatbot visits fell to 28.8%, raising concerns about competitive momentum in consumer AI.
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment is pressuring cash flow. Analysts continue to flag Alphabet’s very high data-center and chip spending, with some estimates showing weaker free-cash-flow generation than Microsoft and Meta in 2027.
• Negative Sentiment: Several funds reduced Alphabet positions. Barclays, Franklin Resources, Magellan and other managers reported trimming GOOG or GOOGL holdings, partially offsetting Berkshire’s large purchase. Alphabet also faces reputational risk from a reported Google-ad phishing scam and a law-firm investigation of investor claims.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $343.54 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.46 and a 12 month high of $404.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 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 2.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $352.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $339.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend 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 related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.