London Co. of Virginia Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

London Co. of Virginia trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 747,417 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 58,123 shares during the quarter. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $214,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 806,681 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,618,000 after acquiring an additional 3,616 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reported a strong second quarter, with revenue up 24% year over year to $119.8 billion and earnings of $9.11 per share, well above estimates. Google Cloud growth, reported at approximately 82%, and continued strength in Search and YouTube reinforced the company’s AI monetization story. Alphabet Stock Is Gaining Monday: What’s Going On?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and portfolio managers largely continue to support Alphabet’s long-term outlook. Bullish arguments point to enterprise AI adoption, a roughly $514 billion Cloud backlog, improving Cloud margins and early evidence that AI features can strengthen Search and other services. Berkshire Hathaway’s substantial Alphabet position also provides a notable vote of confidence. Alphabet Q2 Strength Reinforces the Bullish Case
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube reached a multiyear agreement with NBCUniversal to include Peacock content for U.S. YouTube Premium subscribers beginning in 2027. The deal could improve subscription value, engagement and YouTube’s competitive position in streaming. NBCUniversal and YouTube Ink Peacock Deal

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. KeyCorp set a $445.00 price target on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, July 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $410.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at $9,345,358.56. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $326.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $188.70 and a 1 year high of $404.47. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $359.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $337.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.Alphabet’s revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 17.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Alphabet 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.