Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Decreased by Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc.

Key Points

• Pacific Wealth Strategies Group reduced its Alphabet stake by 10.9% in the first quarter, selling 3,340 shares and retaining 27,328 shares worth approximately $7.86 million. Alphabet remains about 4.9% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $419.86. Alphabet recently reported quarterly revenue of $119.8 billion and earnings per share of $9.11, both ahead of expectations.
• Alphabet’s growth outlook is supported by strong advertising and Google Cloud performance, but investors remain concerned about its planned $195 billion–$205 billion in 2026 capital spending, negative free cash flow, regulatory risks and recent insider selling.

Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 10.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,328 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,340 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 4.9% of Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $277,696,000 after acquiring an additional 93,293 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $25,679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269 shares in the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,902,000. Private Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,717 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co raised its holdings in Alphabet by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 118,966 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,236,000 after purchasing an additional 17,415 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on GOOGL. Pivotal Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 target price (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Dbs Bank lifted their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. 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, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, New Street Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Six research 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, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $419.86.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.9%

GOOGL opened at $336.71 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.82 and a 52 week high of $408.61. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $359.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $339.14.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 4.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 600,465 shares of company stock valued at $16,228,202 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s latest quarter continued to support the long-term growth case: revenue rose 24% to $119.8 billion, Google Cloud growth accelerated to 82%, cloud operating income more than tripled, and its backlog reached $514 billion. Search revenue also grew 17%, easing concerns that AI tools are undermining the core advertising business. Alphabet quarter and valuation analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm is being supported by Alphabet’s potential to commercialize its internally developed AI chips, with initial external revenue reportedly expected by year-end. Analysts and value investors remain constructive; KeyCorp maintains an “Overweight” rating and a $445 target, while Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to “strong buy.” Alphabet AI silicon opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding its Play Signal age-assurance technology worldwide by the end of 2026, potentially strengthening Android’s safety tools and developer ecosystem. Waymo also began restoring freeway service, a sign of progress after earlier operational restrictions. Google age-assurance technology
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst estimates were mixed: KeyCorp raised its full-year 2026 EPS forecast substantially but trimmed quarterly and 2027 estimates slightly, while Erste Group lifted its 2027 forecast. This indicates strong near-term expectations but uncertainty about longer-term spending and profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: The main pressure remains Alphabet’s planned $195 billion–$205 billion of 2026 capital spending. Quarterly capital expenditures reached $44.9 billion and free cash flow turned negative, prompting investors to question whether AI infrastructure returns will justify the investment. Alphabet AI spending concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Additional risks include renewed fears that lower-cost AI models could pressure technology valuations, potential European private damages claims following Google’s $1 billion fine, and reports of a DeepMind research-team restructuring. Recent insider and major-shareholder sales are also a modest sentiment headwind, although they do not necessarily signal deteriorating fundamentals. Google European damages risk

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.

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