Clough Capital Partners L P Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Clough Capital Partners increased its Alphabet position by 22% in the first quarter, acquiring 38,173 additional shares for a total of 211,491 shares valued at approximately $60.7 million. Alphabet now represents about 5.8% of the firm’s portfolio and its largest holding.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: Alphabet has a consensus “Buy” rating, with seven Strong Buy, 29 Buy, and three Hold ratings and an average price target of $410.09.
• Alphabet reported 24.2% year-over-year revenue growth to $119.8 billion in its latest quarter and exceeded earnings expectations, although insiders have sold roughly $10.1 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Clough Capital Partners L P raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 22.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 211,491 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 38,173 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 5.8% of Clough Capital Partners L P's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Clough Capital Partners L P's holdings in Alphabet were worth $60,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,508 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the first quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,844 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,390,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,174,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the first quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 285,049 shares of company stock worth $10,051,351 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $425.00 price target (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial cut their price target on Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. DZ Bank raised Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $410.09.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals are supporting the rebound. Alphabet’s latest quarter featured 24.2% revenue growth, an EPS beat, and an 82% year-over-year increase in Google Cloud revenue. Analysts and investors argue that AI adoption, Search resilience, YouTube growth, and improving cloud profitability can eventually justify the company’s large infrastructure investments. Alphabet: Buy The Capex-Caused Decline
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and institutional backing remains constructive. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to “strong buy,” while KeyCorp modestly raised its FY2028 EPS estimate. Asset Management One also added approximately 117,000 GOOGL shares, signaling continued institutional confidence despite recent volatility. Alphabet upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube expanded its monetization ecosystem. A multiyear agreement will bring Peacock content, including sports and entertainment programming, to YouTube Premium subscribers in the United States, potentially strengthening engagement and subscription value. YouTube and Peacock deal
• Neutral Sentiment: AI remains both the growth engine and the central debate. More than 1,100 technology employees urged governments to establish stronger AI-safety rules. The issue could increase compliance costs, but coordinated regulation may also benefit large, well-funded platforms such as Google over smaller competitors. AI safety plan
• Negative Sentiment: Capital-spending concerns continue to cap enthusiasm. Alphabet’s roughly $195 billion–$205 billion 2026 capex forecast has pushed free cash flow negative and raised questions about returns on AI infrastructure. Investors are looking for evidence that Cloud growth and AI monetization will outpace the spending burden.
• Negative Sentiment: European legal risks are escalating. Following a $1 billion Digital Markets Act fine, rivals could pursue as much as $10 billion in private damages claims, creating potential financial and operational pressure on Google’s European business. Google European damages claims

Alphabet Stock Up 1.8%

GOOG opened at $332.60 on Wednesday. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $358.25 and its 200 day moving average is $337.68. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $188.70 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $116.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.42%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc NASDAQ: GOOG is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as "Other Bets." Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company's history.

Alphabet's core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company's ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

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