M.D. Sass LLC Buys 3,492 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

M.D. Sass LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 49.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,523 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,492 shares during the quarter. M.D. Sass LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $339.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 0.97 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $349.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $342.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Freedom Capital raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. China Renaissance upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. DA Davidson set a $350.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price target (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.19.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the business’s 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 sold a total of 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Alphabet’s valuation and growth outlook. Citizens analyst Andrew Boone expects the stock to reach a new record high over the next 12 months, while other commentary highlights strong cloud momentum and argues that market concerns about Alphabet may be excessive. Wall Street analyst sets Google price target One Mag 7 Stock to Watch
• Positive Sentiment: Google- and Meta-backed Jio Platforms received approval for an Indian IPO. The listing could provide Alphabet with a potential valuation catalyst for its investment and increase visibility into the value of the stake. Jio Platforms IPO approval
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is balancing record cloud growth against historically high AI-related capital spending. Investors are focused on whether rising infrastructure costs will generate sufficient future revenue and margins compared with Amazon’s spending strategy. Alphabet and Amazon AI capital spending
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares for approximately $27,692, reducing her direct holdings by 0.43%. The relatively small transaction is unlikely to materially change the investment case, but it may attract limited attention amid the stock’s recent volatility. Alphabet insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh scrutiny of Google’s £260 million U.K. app-store settlement added to regulatory pressure. Reports also say Google changed European search rules to avoid a potentially much larger EU revenue penalty, though the concessions could weaken its search economics and competitive position. Google U.K. app-store settlement Google European search rules
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to debate whether Meta’s AI products could challenge Google Search and whether Alphabet’s AI investment will pressure returns before producing meaningful new revenue. Concerns about talent departures and the uncertain reception for future Gemini releases are also weighing on sentiment. Meta AI competition with Google Search

About Alphabet

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.