Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by West Branch Capital LLC

West Branch Capital LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 89,356 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,593 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 7.4% of West Branch Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $31,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 6.0% during the first quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC now owns 5,460 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Cadia Private Client LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Cadia Private Client LLC now owns 2,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Evansbrook LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 9,522 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $344.17 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $352.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $341.28. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.60 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 4.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. DA Davidson set a $350.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. DZ Bank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. China Renaissance boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $419.86.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway sharply increased its Alphabet position. Berkshire disclosed an 83% second-quarter increase, adding approximately 48 million shares and bringing its holding to nearly 106 million shares valued at about $37 billion. Warren Buffett said he initiated the investment, reinforcing the view that Alphabet offers strong cash generation, attractive valuation and durable growth. Berkshire Just Made a Huge Alphabet Bet—Should You Follow?
• Positive Sentiment: Other prominent investors also reported Alphabet purchases. Filings indicated buying by investors including David Tepper, Stanley Druckenmiller and Seth Klarman, adding to the institutional endorsement of GOOGL’s AI, cloud and advertising outlook. Billionaires Loading Into Alphabet Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is expanding its AI capabilities. Google agreed to pay $10 million for anonymized Spirit Airlines business data and software for product development and AI training, while some employees from workflow-automation startup Relay are joining Google’s Chrome team. These moves support continued investment in AI products, though the direct financial impact is likely limited. Google to Buy Spirit Airlines Business Data
• Neutral Sentiment: AI spending is creating both opportunity and financing pressure. Alphabet was among several companies issuing large volumes of AI-related debt, potentially funding cloud and data-center expansion but increasing interest costs and balance-sheet risk. Reports that Alphabet is considering an Australian-dollar bond could reinforce that concern. AI’s Borrowing Binge
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP announced an investigation into potential claims on behalf of Alphabet investors. The release provided few details, and an investigation does not establish wrongdoing, but the announcement could create short-term legal and reputational pressure. Pomerantz Investor Alert

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company 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.