D.A. Davidson & CO. Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• D.A. Davidson & Co. trimmed its Alphabet stake by 1.1% in Q1, selling 4,851 shares and leaving it with 437,268 shares worth about $125.7 million.
• Alphabet reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings, posting EPS of $9.11 versus $2.89 expected and revenue of $119.8 billion versus $117.07 billion forecast.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on GOOGL, with an average Buy rating and a consensus price target of about $419.86, even as concerns persist about rising AI-related capex and regulatory pressure.

D.A. Davidson & CO. decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 437,268 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 4,851 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.8% of D.A. Davidson & CO.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $125,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sharpepoint LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 13,833 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares in the last quarter. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the first quarter. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Navigation Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $5,763,000. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 2,364 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 593,139 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $170,563,000 after purchasing an additional 10,204 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Phillip Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Five investment 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $419.86.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.6%

GOOGL opened at $319.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $362.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $338.74. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.82 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $117.07 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 17.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders 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 is presently 4.42%.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Q2 results showed strong underlying demand, including an 82% surge in Google Cloud revenue and continued growth in Search and YouTube, reinforcing that its core businesses are still expanding. Google Cloud CEO Kurian says customers are spending 50% more as segment blows away expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Barclays argued that a TPU-as-a-service offering could materially lift Alphabet’s long-term profitability, suggesting the market may be underestimating future AI monetization. TPU-As-A-Service could boost Google’s 2028 profit by over 15%: Barclays
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon signed a more than $1 billion dark-fiber deal to support Google’s data centers, underscoring ongoing infrastructure demand tied to Alphabet’s AI and cloud expansion. Verizon signs deal with Google worth over $1 billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet was included in a momentum screen highlighting stocks with strong earnings and favorable price trends, which is supportive but not a major stock-specific catalyst. 3 High-Momentum Stocks to Buy Now Before They Surge
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position, so this does not appear to be a major driver of the move.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried that Alphabet’s AI spending is becoming too large, with the company increasing 2026 capex guidance and reporting negative free cash flow for the first time in years. Alphabet earnings takeaways: Q2 revenue beats, GOOGL stock sinks on 2026 capex hike
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet also faced fresh regulatory pressure after the European Commission fined Google about $1 billion under the Digital Markets Act. Google hit with $1 billion EU fine, first under landmark rules
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo reportedly may try to end its partnership with Uber, which could create uncertainty around one of Alphabet’s autonomous-driving distribution channels. Waymo reportedly mulling a breakup with Uber

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

About Alphabet

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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