Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Holdings Lessened by City Holding Co.

Key Points

• City Holding Co. reduced its Alphabet position by 1.6% in the second quarter, selling 1,522 shares and retaining 94,960 shares worth approximately $33.9 million. Alphabet remains the firm’s largest holding, representing 3.8% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet continues to receive strong institutional and analyst support: 40.03% of shares are held by institutions, while analysts maintain an average “Buy” rating with a consensus price target of $419.86.
• Alphabet’s latest quarter exceeded expectations, with $9.11 in EPS versus a $2.89 estimate and $119.8 billion in revenue versus a $117.07 billion forecast. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, although insiders have sold shares worth $12.4 million over the past 90 days.

City Holding Co. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,960 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,522 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 3.8% of City Holding Co.'s holdings, making the stock its largest position. City Holding Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $33,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,534,239,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 855.3% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,546,413,000 after acquiring an additional 13,004,828 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $165,567,398,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,910,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28,950.0% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,291,926 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,671,986,000 after acquiring an additional 9,259,940 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. New Street Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $419.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

More 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

Alphabet Stock Up 0.0%

GOOGL stock opened at $344.17 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $196.60 and a one year high of $408.61. The stock 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $352.87 and a 200-day moving average of $341.28.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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