Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Retirement Planning Group LLC

Key Points

• Retirement Planning Group LLC cut its Alphabet stake by 21.7% in the first quarter, selling 4,442 shares and leaving it with 16,018 shares valued at about $4.61 million.
• Alphabet reported a strong quarter, with revenue of $119.8 billion and EPS of $9.11, both topping expectations. Google Cloud revenue surged 82% year over year, and YouTube ad revenue also grew.
• Despite the earnings beat, shares were pressured by concerns over higher 2026 capital spending and Alphabet’s first-ever negative free cash flow, while the company also faces a new €890 million EU antitrust fine.

Retirement Planning Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 21.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,018 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,442 shares during the quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet delivered a strong quarter, with revenue of $119.8 billion and EPS of $9.11, both well above expectations, while Google Cloud revenue jumped 82% year over year and YouTube ad revenue also grew solidly. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Management said AI demand is outpacing capacity, which helped justify higher investment plans, and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said existing customers are spending about 50% more than they initially committed. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s Gemini AI assistant now has more than 950 million monthly users, showing continued traction in its AI products and ecosystem. TechCrunch article
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, a small but shareholder-friendly capital return move. MarketBeat reference
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet disclosed a large equity stake in SpaceX, highlighting the value of its investment portfolio, though this is not a direct operating catalyst for the core business. WSJ article
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are falling as investors react to a much higher 2026 capital spending outlook and Alphabet’s first-ever negative free cash flow, raising concerns that AI infrastructure spending could pressure returns. Barron’s article
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet also faces a new €890 million ($1 billion) EU antitrust fine over Search and Play Store practices, adding regulatory pressure. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms announced securities-fraud investigations tied to Alphabet’s disclosures, which can add overhang and keep sentiment fragile. Business Wire article

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $465.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $419.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 7.1%

Alphabet stock opened at $317.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $364.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $338.88. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.82 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 57.20% and a net margin of 54.77%.The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $117.07 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Alphabet 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.

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