Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Leuthold Group LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Leuthold Group reduced its Alphabet stake by 3.8% in the second quarter, selling 2,500 shares, but Alphabet remains the firm’s second-largest holding at 2.3% of its portfolio, valued at $22.8 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with $9.11 in adjusted EPS and $119.8 billion in revenue, exceeding analyst expectations. Analysts maintain a broadly bullish view, with an average rating of “Buy” and a $420.19 price target.
• Institutional ownership remains significant, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 40.03% of the stock, while insiders have sold 451,945 shares worth approximately $12.4 million over the past 90 days.

Leuthold Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,893 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,500 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.3% of Leuthold Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Leuthold Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt upgraded Alphabet to “strong buy” and reiterated a $410 price target, implying substantial upside and reinforcing the bullish view following Alphabet’s strong earnings report. Alphabet upgraded by Rosenblatt Securities
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI spending continues to attract major customers and suppliers. Marvell’s custom-chip agreement includes a warrant structure that would require up to $120 billion of cumulative purchases from Google for full vesting, signaling the potentially enormous scale of Alphabet’s TPU and AI infrastructure buildout. Google’s Marvell warrant
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo received approval to operate up to thousands of commercial robotaxis in Nevada and opened its lower-cost next-generation vehicle to riders in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco. Lower production and operating costs could improve the long-term economics of Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit. Waymo Nevada robotaxi approval
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s earnings momentum remains a support for the stock. The company recently exceeded consensus estimates for both adjusted earnings and revenue, while analysts and prominent investors—including Berkshire Hathaway—continue to highlight Alphabet’s AI positioning and valuation.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714 in the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and issued a $460.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. 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 report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $420.19.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $344.82 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $201.30 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, 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 current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. The business's 50 day moving average price is $352.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $341.35.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.42%.

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.

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