Private Advisory Group LLC Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Private Advisory Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,915 shares during the quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud and AI remain the main growth drivers. Rising Cloud revenue, AI adoption and a reported $514 billion backlog strengthen Alphabet’s competitive position against Microsoft and Amazon, although capacity constraints could limit near-term execution. Rising Cloud Revenue Strengthens Alphabet Against MSFT & AMZN
• Positive Sentiment: New Gemini and AI Mode features could increase user engagement and monetization. Google is expanding AI Mode to track flight prices and assist with hotel bookings, while reviews of its personal-intelligence tools suggest broader consumer adoption. Employees are also reportedly testing a next-generation Gemini Flash model. Google’s AI Mode can now track flight prices, help book hotels, and more
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment and technical momentum remain favorable. Brokerages maintain an average “Buy” recommendation, while technical commentary points to support above approximately $340. Alphabet’s valuation, margins and cash generation are viewed as attractive relative to many AI peers. Alphabet Receives Average Recommendation of Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s custom-chip strategy is creating demand for AI infrastructure. Marvell’s large Google-related AI-chip opportunity highlights Alphabet’s willingness to invest in proprietary computing capacity, potentially supporting long-term performance and reducing reliance on outside suppliers. Marvell’s Google AI-chip opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Google changed its European spam and site-reputation policy. The adjustment is intended to address European Commission concerns and reduce the risk of an antitrust fine, but it may affect how Google ranks publisher content and reflects ongoing regulatory pressure. Google changes spam policy in EU to avert antitrust fine
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risks continue to weigh on the investment case. Multiple law firms announced securities-fraud investigations, while Google agreed to a $353 million settlement with UK app developers. These announcements do not establish wrongdoing but could create financial and reputational costs. Google agrees to settle UK app developers’ lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: The FTC is reportedly considering action involving YouTube. The investigation concerns account suspensions and possible consumer-protection violations, adding another regulatory overhang for Alphabet. US FTC probes YouTube over social media policies

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 451,843 shares of company stock valued at $12,343,852. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $346.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $206.20 and a 1-year high of $408.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $349.62 and a 200 day moving average of $341.74. The firm has a market cap of $4.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $445.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. China Renaissance boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $420.19.

Alphabet 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.