Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Manning & Napier Advisors cut its Alphabet stake by 7.2% in the second quarter, selling 48,497 shares and retaining 628,449 shares valued at approximately $224.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 40.03% of Alphabet.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with $119.8 billion in revenue and $9.11 in earnings per share, exceeding analyst expectations. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $420.19.
• Alphabet is expanding its AI infrastructure and commercial reach through a Google Cloud–Accenture enterprise partnership, nuclear-power support for data centers, and expanded AI trials with Cathay Pacific.

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 628,449 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 48,497 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.9% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $224,589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Wayfinding Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC now owns 4,702 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,680,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Vega Investment Solutions raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vega Investment Solutions now owns 23,295 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,325,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,022 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,296,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the period. Visionary Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 21,347 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,629,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Capstone Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud expands enterprise AI push: Alphabet and Accenture are launching a joint unit with 1,000 forward-deployed engineers to help businesses implement Google’s AI tools. The partnership could accelerate Cloud adoption, improve monetization and help Alphabet compete more effectively with Microsoft and Amazon. Google Cloud races to catch up in the AI deployment wars with Accenture deal
• Positive Sentiment: Potential power support for AI infrastructure: The U.S. government approved a $1.9 billion loan to NextEra Energy to refurbish an Iowa nuclear plant that Google plans to use for power. Reliable, low-carbon electricity could help support Alphabet’s growing data-center demand, although the benefits are longer term. Google's revived nuclear power plant gets $1.9B loan from US government
• Positive Sentiment: Google and Cathay Pacific expanded trials of AI technology designed to reduce aircraft contrail warming, adding a potential sustainability and commercial-use case for Google’s AI capabilities. Cathay Pacific, Google expand AI trials to cut climate-warming aircraft contrails

Alphabet Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $338.36 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $233.23 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $348.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $343.37.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. DA Davidson set a $350.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. HSBC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $420.00 price objective (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $420.19.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.71, for a total value of $27,692.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,995 shares in the company, valued at $6,414,801.45. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology and holding company founded in 2015 through a restructuring of Google. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and operates globally, serving consumers, businesses, advertisers and developers across numerous countries and regions.

Alphabet's largest business is Google Services, which includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and hardware products such as Pixel devices. These products support activities including internet search, digital content distribution, mobile computing, online communications and advertising.

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