Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Counterweight Ventures LLC

Key Points

• Counterweight Ventures LLC reduced its Alphabet stake by 14.9% in the first quarter, selling 3,703 shares and leaving it with 21,215 shares valued at about $6.09 million.
• Alphabet continues to draw mixed institutional and insider activity: hedge funds still own 27.26% of the stock, while insiders have sold 160,465 shares worth about $8.02 million over the past 90 days.
• The company’s fundamentals remain strong, with the latest quarterly results beating expectations on both earnings and revenue, and Wall Street analysts maintaining a Buy outlook with an average target price of $376.19.

Counterweight Ventures LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 14.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,215 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,703 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 3.4% of Counterweight Ventures LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Counterweight Ventures LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is looking for another strong earnings report from Alphabet, with AI and Google Cloud expected to keep driving growth ahead of the company’s upcoming results. Alphabet Q2 Earnings Preview: What To Expect From Upcoming Report
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google unit joined a €411 million funding round for Proxima Fusion, reinforcing its interest in frontier energy and other long-duration AI-adjacent opportunities. Google, RWE back Proxima Fusion in €411 million financing round
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Alphabet as a potential “forever holding” for Berkshire-style investors may be helping reinforce the stock’s long-term AI and cash-flow appeal. Prediction: This Magnificent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Will Become Berkshire's Next Forever Holding
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet announced that its Made by Google Pixel event will be held on August 12, which could build anticipation for new hardware updates but is not a major fundamental catalyst by itself. Google's Pixel event is set for August 12
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary comparing Alphabet with Palantir and Taiwan Semiconductor keeps Alphabet in the center of AI-stock debates, but these are mostly valuation and relative-performance discussions rather than direct business news. Palantir Vs. Google: Why Palantir is Surging in July and Should Investors Buy it Over Google?
• Negative Sentiment: TechCrunch reported that Google is expanding AI training to include more user-uploaded media, which could raise fresh privacy concerns and fuel scrutiny over how customer data is used. If you use Google, you're training its AI. Here's how to opt out.
• Negative Sentiment: Business Insider noted that Google’s status as a top tech employer is becoming less certain as AI-linked salary competition pushes some talent elsewhere, which could add pressure to retention. Google's status as the dream tech job is changing. FOMO over AI salaries is only one reason why.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the sale, the director owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $363.62 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $173.88 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $369.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $334.35. The company has a market cap of $4.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.81 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $416.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $376.19.

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.

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