State of Wyoming lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,257 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,698 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.0% of State of Wyoming’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $277,696,000 after buying an additional 93,293 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $25,679,000 after acquiring an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,902,000. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 118,966 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,236,000 after acquiring an additional 17,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 66.1% in the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 22,877 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after acquiring an additional 9,105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. CICC Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $515.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Arete Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $379.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.19.
Insider Activity
In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total transaction of $27,337.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,305,738.46. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 451,843 shares of company stock valued at $12,343,852 in the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Alphabet Stock Performance
NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $346.59 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $349.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $341.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.24. 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 fifty-two week low of $206.20 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The company 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 $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.42%.
Key Stories 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
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.
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