Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Posted by Stanley Muller on Jul 17th, 2026

Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG – Free Report) by 5.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,452 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,631 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.2% of Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 28,482.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 850.3% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,551,938,000 after purchasing an additional 15,830,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $132,114,125,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial set a $430.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $383.44.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Alphabet

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment remains broadly bullish, with multiple firms reiterating buy/outperform ratings and several raising price targets, including Wedbush’s $445 target, signaling continued confidence in Alphabet’s long-term earnings power and AI/cloud growth. Finviz
Positive Sentiment: Bank of America said Alphabet could beat estimates on strong cloud growth and a larger-than-expected value from its Anthropic stake, which supports the bull case ahead of earnings. Proactive Investors
Positive Sentiment: Warren Buffett publicly said he initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s Alphabet investment and called the stock more likely to be a winner, which adds a high-profile vote of confidence for investors. CNBC
Positive Sentiment: Recent institutional filings show major investors like Berkshire Hathaway adding to GOOG/GOOGL positions, reinforcing long-term institutional support for the stock. Quiver Quantitative
Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet continues rolling out AI-related product updates, including Google Vids avatar tools and new app integrations in AI Mode, which show product momentum but are unlikely to move the stock on their own. TechCrunch
Neutral Sentiment: A new lobbying disclosure showed Alphabet spending on privacy, competition, and platform-bias issues, which is routine regulatory activity and not a direct earnings driver. Quiver Quantitative
Negative Sentiment: The European Union ordered Google to open Android and search data to rival AI and search companies, a regulatory move that could weaken Alphabet’s competitive moat and increase compliance pressure. Reuters
Negative Sentiment: Alphabet is also facing fresh legal and investor scrutiny, including a securities-fraud investigation announcement and a report that its AI search tools may pose safety risks for children, both of which add headline risk. Business Wire
Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling has been heavy, with no insider purchases in the last six months, which may weigh on sentiment even if the sales are not necessarily a fundamental red flag. Quiver Quantitative

Alphabet Stock Down 4.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $353.81 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $181.50 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The stock has a market cap of $4.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $367.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $336.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.81 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

Alphabet Profile

(Free Report)

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.