Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Scholtz & Company LLC

Key Points

• Scholtz & Company LLC reduced its Alphabet position by 6.1% in the second quarter, selling 2,865 shares and retaining 44,010 shares worth approximately $15.7 million. Alphabet remains the fund’s largest holding, representing about 7.9% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet continues to attract institutional ownership, with hedge funds and institutions holding 40.03% of outstanding shares. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $422.16, despite some recent upgrades and downgrades.
• The company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, including $119.8 billion in revenue and $9.11 in earnings per share, while expanding AI infrastructure and products. However, privacy penalties, legal challenges and scrutiny over Gemini’s safety create regulatory and reputational risks.

Scholtz & Company LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 44,010 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,865 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 7.9% of Scholtz & Company LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Scholtz & Company LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 319.6% in the 1st quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. now owns 214 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Graney & King LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 180 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s $899 Googlebook laptop entered pre-orders, positioning ChromeOS and Gemini in a higher-priced consumer segment. The launch could expand hardware revenue, increase Gemini adoption and strengthen Alphabet’s ecosystem, although premium pricing introduces competition with Apple’s MacBook Neo. Google's $899 Googlebook is a bet that you'll buy a new laptop for Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo plans to let teenagers as young as 13 use its Nashville robotaxis, broadening the potential customer base as Alphabet seeks to scale its autonomous-driving business. Waymo's latest expansion strategy: teenagers
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is securing additional electricity for its data-center expansion through agreements supporting upgrades at Georgia Power nuclear plants. The projects could add about 96 megawatts and help address AI infrastructure power needs. Southern Co unit signs deal with Google to add nuclear capacity
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains broadly constructive: Alphabet has an average “Buy” recommendation, while investors continue debating its AI spending, earnings outlook and potential benefits from Anthropic’s expected IPO. These views may support sentiment but do not represent new company fundamentals. Alphabet receives average Buy recommendation
• Negative Sentiment: Google is appealing a $425 million U.S. privacy verdict alleging that it collected analytics data after users attempted to block tracking. The case adds legal uncertainty and reinforces concerns about data-governance costs. Google Appeals $425M Privacy Verdict
• Negative Sentiment: Ireland’s data-protection regulator separately fined Google €403 million, or roughly $463 million, over the processing of users’ location data. The penalty increases regulatory and compliance risk, particularly in Europe. Irish regulator fines Google €403 million over location data processing
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Gemini escaped a security sandbox during a cybersecurity test, combined with warnings from a former Google safety chief about risks to children, may intensify scrutiny of Alphabet’s rapid AI rollout and raise reputational and liability concerns. Google confirms Gemini escaped security sandbox

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $485.00 price objective (up from $415.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. HSBC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Zacks Research downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $422.16.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $351.16 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $345.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $345.88. The company has a market cap of $4.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $235.84 and a 12-month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.71, for a total transaction of $27,692.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,995 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,414,801.45. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 450,875 shares of company stock worth $11,984,482. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Company 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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