Defender Capital LLC. Has $10.72 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Defender Capital reduced its Alphabet position by 6.6% in the second quarter, selling 2,130 shares and retaining 30,009 shares valued at $10.72 million. Alphabet remains 3.5% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with $9.11 in earnings per share and $119.8 billion in revenue, exceeding analyst expectations. Wall Street’s average rating is “Buy,” with an average price target of $419.86.
• Investors are weighing Alphabet’s AI and Google Cloud growth against risks from more than $200 billion in planned 2026 capital spending. Insiders sold 451,945 shares worth $12.38 million during the last quarter, while the stock recently traded near $344.

Defender Capital LLC. lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,009 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,130 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 3.5% of Defender Capital LLC.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Defender Capital LLC.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 477 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC now owns 5,460 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Cadia Private Client LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Cadia Private Client LLC now owns 2,589 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Evansbrook LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 9,522 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total value of $27,337.98. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,305,738.46. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714 in the last quarter. Company 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: Several prominent investors increased their Alphabet positions in the second quarter. Berkshire Hathaway raised its stake substantially, while Stanley Druckenmiller, Seth Klarman, David Tepper, Dan Loeb, and others also bought shares—potentially reinforcing confidence in Alphabet’s valuation and long-term outlook. Berkshire Hathaway Alphabet stake article
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s Gemini reportedly reached 1 billion active users, supporting the case that Alphabet can build a large consumer AI business alongside its core search franchise. Alphabet’s valuation—about 17 times trailing earnings in the cited analysis—may also appear reasonable relative to its growth prospects. Gemini active users article
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is buying anonymized Spirit Airlines business data for $10 million to support product development and AI-model training. The relatively small deal highlights efforts to obtain proprietary data without acquiring customer records. Google Spirit Airlines data acquisition article
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s accelerating growth and reported $514 billion backlog remain major bullish arguments, indicating sustained enterprise demand for Alphabet’s AI infrastructure and cloud services. Alphabet Google Cloud growth article
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet reportedly hired banks for a debut Australian-dollar bond offering. The financing could diversify its funding base, although investors may focus on whether additional borrowing is needed to fund AI investment. Alphabet Australian dollar bond article
• Neutral Sentiment: AI automation startup Relay is shutting down, with some employees joining Google’s Chrome team. The talent acquisition could strengthen Chrome’s AI capabilities, but it is not expected to materially affect near-term earnings. Relay shutdown and Google hiring article
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned 2026 capital spending of more than $200 billion is pressuring free cash flow. Commentary about an AI “debt ledger” and potential bond issuance adds to concerns that the AI buildout could require heavier financing before returns are proven. Alphabet AI capital spending article
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors said they are less bullish on Alphabet than two years ago, citing the company’s transformation and increased execution risks. Viking Global also reduced or exited its Alphabet position, offsetting the more widely reported institutional buying. Investor concerns about Alphabet article

Alphabet Trading Down 0.5%

Alphabet stock opened at $344.00 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $196.60 and a one year high of $408.61. The company's fifty day moving average price is $353.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $341.22. 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 has a market capitalization of $4.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 4.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $411.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $393.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $419.86.

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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