Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,686 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,190 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.7% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $277,696,000 after purchasing an additional 93,293 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $25,679,000 after buying an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $28,902,000. Private Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business'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 sale, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 285,049 shares of company stock valued at $10,051,351. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.2%

GOOGL opened at $333.71 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.82 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $360.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $339.07. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Truist Financial set a $420.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $393.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $419.86.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s second-quarter results showed $119.80 billion in revenue and $112.19 billion in net income, while Google Cloud growth and early AI monetization helped reinforce the long-term investment case. Several analysts remain bullish; Phillip Securities upgraded the stock to “strong buy,” and KeyCorp raised its fiscal 2028 EPS estimate to $17.88 while maintaining an “Overweight” rating and a $445 price target. Alphabet Q2 earnings analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to attract support from value investors and dip buyers, with reports indicating that prominent investors increased their positions. The company also secured a multiyear agreement to bring Peacock content to YouTube Premium subscribers, potentially strengthening YouTube’s subscription and content ecosystem. Investors increase Alphabet positions
• Neutral Sentiment: The broader technology market is volatile ahead of major Big Tech earnings and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision. That macro uncertainty may be contributing to sharp moves in Alphabet despite its strong fundamentals. Wall Street rebounds ahead of FOMC
• Negative Sentiment: The primary overhang is Alphabet’s plan to spend roughly $195 billion to $205 billion on 2026 capital expenditures, largely for AI infrastructure. Investors are questioning whether the spending will generate adequate returns after Alphabet reportedly posted negative free cash flow for the first time as a public company and paused buybacks under its prior program. A proposed $69.24 billion Class C stock shelf could also raise dilution concerns. Alphabet AI spending and cash concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet faces additional legal and regulatory risk. European rivals are lining up potential private damages claims after Google lost an initial case under new EU competition rules, while Waymo faces possible federal requirements concerning emergency-response procedures. Major-shareholder sales disclosed in recent SEC filings are a smaller, but potentially negative, sentiment signal. Google faces potential European damages claims

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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