Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Sells 22,657 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 16.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,647 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 22,657 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.7% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 2,364 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $680,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Symmetry Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,476,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SKY Mountain Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the first quarter. SKY Mountain Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,791 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $803,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is reportedly backing a potential $15 billion Texas data-center project tied to Anthropic, providing financial guarantees and chips. The project could strengthen Google Cloud’s AI infrastructure position and create additional demand for Alphabet’s services, although the guarantees also add financial exposure. Anthropic data center financing
• Positive Sentiment: Google said AI-assisted development enabled it to fix more Chrome security vulnerabilities in June than during the previous two years combined. Faster security improvements could support Chrome’s reliability and Google’s broader AI-productivity narrative. Google Chrome security improvements
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains broadly favorable: Erste Group raised its 2026 EPS forecast to $20.50 from $14.27, above the roughly $20.15 consensus, while other firms maintain bullish ratings and targets. Alphabet also expanded its Gemini partnership with Oracle, potentially widening enterprise AI distribution. Alphabet growth-stock analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s strong Azure and Copilot results reinforce robust enterprise AI demand, but they also highlight the intense competition among hyperscalers and may raise investor expectations for Google Cloud.
• Negative Sentiment: Reddit’s CEO said Google’s AI Overviews have not replaced the referral value of traditional “10 blue links.” Reduced traffic to publishers could increase pressure on Google’s search ecosystem and raise questions about how AI summaries will protect advertising economics. Reddit CEO comments on Google AI Overviews
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet faces additional sentiment headwinds from securities-law investigations and recent insider or major-shareholder stock sales. These filings are relatively small compared with Alphabet’s market value, but they can weigh on confidence during a post-earnings selloff.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 600,547 shares of company stock worth $16,255,540 in the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson set a $350.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 target price (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $419.86.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.9%

Alphabet stock opened at $333.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $358.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $339.18. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.82 and a 12 month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.