Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Trimmed by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,210,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 101,346 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 4.8% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $348,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $85,557,000 after buying an additional 48,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank grew its stake in Alphabet by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reportedly developed a new AI server chip, “Frozen v2,” to make Gemini run more efficiently, which could improve margins and help ease compute constraints for Google Cloud. Reuters: Google plans new chip to run Gemini models more efficiently
• Positive Sentiment: Google released new Gemini models, including cheaper and more efficient versions, signaling continued AI product momentum ahead of earnings. TechCrunch: Google releases three new Gemini models
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain constructive on Alphabet going into Q2 results, with expectations that Search and Google Cloud can still deliver strong growth. Yahoo Finance: Alphabet Q2 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s earnings report on Wednesday is expected to be a major market test for AI spending, cloud growth, and capital expenditure discipline. Invezz: What to expect from Alphabet’s Q2 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also facing a cluster of securities-fraud investigation headlines, though these are largely legal overhangs at this stage rather than new operational news. PR Newswire: Securities fraud investigation continues
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that a flagship Gemini model remains delayed, adding to investor worries that heavy AI spending may not translate into results quickly enough. Reuters: Alphabet’s Gemini delay, spending worries loom over earnings

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $438.00 price target (up from $416.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $414.54.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $347.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.46 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $367.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $338.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders 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 a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.71%.

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.