Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 338,489 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 35,282 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 5.8% of Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $119,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 76.2% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $330,886,000 after purchasing an additional 806,681 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the second quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.71, for a total transaction of $27,692.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,414,801.45. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google completed its acquisition of AI-agent startup Mechanize in a deal reportedly valued at more than $1.5 billion. Mechanize’s former CEO and other employees have joined Google, strengthening Alphabet’s capabilities in autonomous AI agents. Google completes its deal for AI startup Mechanize
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is broadening Gemini’s commercial reach. Google Cloud launched Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services in preview, with Deutsche Bank as an early proving ground, while a new Accenture partnership will train up to 1,000 engineers to implement Gemini applications for enterprise customers. Google Cloud launches AI agents for banking
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s AI tools are gaining traction in media and creative software. Avid Technology said it is working with Google to accelerate creative workflows, while Gemini is increasingly being positioned as a competitor to Adobe’s tools. Google helps Avid accelerate the creative process with AI
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned €13 billion Finland AI infrastructure investment, supported by a long-term nuclear power agreement, could provide more predictable energy costs for data centers and strengthen Google Cloud and TPU capacity. Analysts also see TPU sales as a potential source of additional Cloud growth. Alphabet’s TPU sales could drive Google Cloud upside
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet faces a continuing securities-fraud investigation by the Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz. The announcement is an investor solicitation and does not establish wrongdoing, but it could add headline and litigation risk. Securities fraud investigation into Alphabet continues
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Alphabet’s roughly $200 billion AI capital-spending plans, potential electricity and data-center costs, and competition from OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta. A proposed U.S. bill could also require large data-center operators such as Alphabet to absorb more power-infrastructure costs.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.55.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $335.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $236.68 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $344.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $341.64.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent company of Google. It was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring intended to separate Google’s core internet businesses from a collection of other ventures. Google remains Alphabet’s largest business and serves users, advertisers, businesses and developers worldwide.

Google’s principal products and services include its internet search engine, online advertising platforms, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Photos.