Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Stake Lowered by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 16.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,306,585 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,037,981 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.8% of California Public Employees Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of Alphabet worth $2,956,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $330,886,000 after purchasing an additional 806,681 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 3,616 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $383.44.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $346.19 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $188.49 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $4.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $364.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $337.29.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.81 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly building a custom AI server chip, “Frozen v2,” to run Gemini more efficiently and reduce compute costs, which could improve long-term margins and support cloud growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet released new Gemini model variants, including cheaper and cybersecurity-focused versions, signaling continued AI product progress ahead of earnings.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive into earnings, with expectations for strong revenue growth and continued strength in Search and Google Cloud.
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are pricing in a meaningful post-earnings move, suggesting the stock could react sharply to Wednesday’s results either way.
• Neutral Sentiment: Senator Jerry Moran disclosed a purchase of GOOG shares, a modest signal of insider confidence but not a major market-moving catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Alphabet’s large AI and data-center spending, and the delayed Gemini Pro launch is adding to questions about execution and AI payoff.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing securities-fraud investigations create additional headline risk and may weigh on sentiment ahead of earnings.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the 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 directly owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% 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, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.