Puff Wealth Management LLC Makes New $1.35 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Puff Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,835 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,355,000. Alphabet accounts for 1.4% of Puff Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth 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 raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 76.2% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $330,886,000 after purchasing an additional 806,681 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying remained supportive. State Street added an estimated 12.7 million shares of Alphabet’s Class A stock, while Mitsubishi UFJ, Lazard and Citizens Financial also increased their Alphabet positions in second-quarter 13F filings. State Street fund update
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI and cloud businesses continue to show strong commercial momentum. Gemini reportedly reached 950 million monthly active users, Google Cloud revenue surged 82% in the second quarter, and its backlog reached $514 billion. A new multiyear, $100 million-plus Google Cloud agreement with AI lab Mirendil could add further demand for cloud infrastructure. Google AI and DeepMind report
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is reorganizing its AI leadership. DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis is moving into a broader chief scientist role, while Chief Scientist Jeff Dean is departing after 27 years. The changes could improve long-term research focus but raise concerns about talent retention and execution. Google AI leadership report
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet launched a roughly $25 billion, 10-part bond offering to finance expanded AI infrastructure spending. Strong demand—reportedly about $115 billion in orders—supports its credit profile, but investors remain concerned that rising capital expenditures and borrowing could reduce returns or increase financial risk. Alphabet bond offering report
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Alphabet from “strong buy” to “hold,” adding to valuation and near-term sentiment pressure. Separately, several investment managers—including Mawer, First Eagle, Diamond Hill and SCS Capital—reported reductions in Alphabet holdings. Zacks Research
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned $15 billion India data-center project faces opposition over water use and wildlife concerns, creating potential regulatory and development hurdles for its infrastructure expansion. Google India data center report

Alphabet Stock Down 0.9%

GOOG opened at $353.47 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.46 and a 1-year high of $404.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $353.94 and a 200-day moving average of $338.96.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced 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 $2.87 by $6.24. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $410.09.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 600,547 shares of company stock worth $16,255,540. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.