Centaurus Financial Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Centaurus Financial reduced its Alphabet position by 2.2% in the first quarter, selling 1,412 shares and retaining 63,883 shares valued at approximately $18.37 million. Institutional investors collectively own about 40.03% of Alphabet.
• Alphabet reported quarterly revenue of $119.80 billion and earnings of $9.11 per share, exceeding analyst expectations. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, equivalent to a 0.2% annualized yield.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive, with Alphabet holding a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $419.86 versus its reported share price of $357.75. AI-related cloud demand and strong bond-sale interest support the outlook, though investors face concerns over rising AI spending, leadership changes and data-center project risks.

Centaurus Financial Inc. reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,883 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,412 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.9% of Centaurus Financial Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Centaurus Financial Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $85,557,000 after purchasing an additional 48,805 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank boosted its position in Alphabet by 6.9% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $357.75 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $194.33 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $356.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $340.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.24.

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 (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 $0.22 dividend. 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 0.2%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, New Street Research increased their price objective on Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $419.86.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is seeking up to $25 billion through a 10-part U.S. bond offering, with reports indicating orders could exceed $115 billion. The strong demand suggests investors and lenders remain confident in Alphabet’s credit profile, while the funds will support AI data centers, computing capacity and other corporate needs. Alphabet seeks up to $25 billion from its latest bond sale
• Positive Sentiment: AI demand continues to create growth opportunities for Google Cloud. AI lab Mirendil signed a multiyear agreement worth more than $100 million for Google Cloud computing capacity, reinforcing demand for Alphabet’s infrastructure and services. Mirendil signs Google Cloud deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Demis Hassabis is moving from day-to-day leadership of Google DeepMind to become Alphabet’s chief scientist and chair of DeepMind, with a focus on long-term research, artificial general intelligence and Isomorphic Labs. Management says the change is intended to improve coordination between research and commercialization. Demis Hassabis new role
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Hassabis’ reduced operating role, combined with the departure of longtime chief scientist Jeff Dean and other senior researchers, could weaken Alphabet’s ability to retain talent and compete in frontier AI. The leadership changes followed concerns about delays in Google’s next-generation Gemini products. Google AI leadership departures
• Negative Sentiment: The debt offering highlights the scale of Alphabet’s AI spending. Although borrowing can preserve cash for operations, it increases interest obligations and intensifies scrutiny over whether future AI revenue will justify the substantial capital investment. Alphabet bond offering and AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned $15 billion India data-center project faces opposition over potential effects on water supplies and wildlife, creating possible permitting, reputational and construction risks. Google India data center environmental concerns

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 600,547 shares of company stock worth $16,255,540 over the last quarter. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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