Diversify Advisory Services LLC Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Diversify Advisory Services LLC trimmed its stake in Alphabet by 5.7% in Q4, selling 11,098 shares and now holds 182,961 shares valued at about $60.38 million, roughly 1.9% of its portfolio and the firm's eighth‑largest position.
• Alphabet has fresh positive catalysts from AI and cloud initiatives — including two eighth‑generation TPUs, the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform with a $750M partner fund and a potential up-to‑$1B Merck deal — which have prompted analyst target increases, but EU regulatory pressure on Android access and recent insider selling present near‑term risks.

Diversify Advisory Services LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 182,961 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 11,098 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.9% of Diversify Advisory Services LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Diversify Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $60,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Members Trust Co lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,728 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. White Wing Wealth Management increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,155 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,799 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,693,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, MRA Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. MRA Advisory Group now owns 1,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled two eighth‑generation TPUs (separate chips for training and inference), a move that could lower AI infrastructure costs and help Google Cloud compete with Nvidia. This product push underpins revenue and margin upside in cloud/AI services. Google Cloud launches two new AI chips to compete with Nvidia
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet amplified its enterprise AI strategy at Cloud Next — launching the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform and a $750M partner fund to accelerate agentic AI adoption. That accelerates monetization paths for AI in Google Cloud. Google makes an interesting choice with its new agent building tool for enterprises
• Positive Sentiment: Large commercial deals are following: Merck committed up to $1B to use Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise, validating enterprise demand and multiyear revenue potential for cloud AI services. Merck to partner with Google Cloud on AI initiatives
• Positive Sentiment: Several sell‑side firms raised targets or reiterated bullish views (BMO to $410, UBS up to $375, Cantor to $395, KeyCorp to $380; JPMorgan and BofA reiterated Buy), signaling analyst confidence in Cloud + AI-driven growth ahead of Q1 results. BMO Raises Alphabet’s Target to $410 and Calls It “the Best Way to Own AI”
• Neutral Sentiment: Google is rolling consumer and workplace AI features (Wallet travel updates, Workspace automation, Chrome “auto browse”) that expand product engagement but are longer‑term monetization plays. Google updates Workspace to make AI your new office intern
• Neutral Sentiment: Independent bullish commentary (e.g., investor columns and pundit targets like Jim Cramer) support investor conviction but are opinion‑driven rather than new fundamentals. Jim Cramer sets Google stock price target
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators are pressuring Google to give rival AI assistants access to Android features — a potential regulatory move that could weaken Android‑centric advantages and complicate Google’s ad/assistant ecosystem. Google Faces New EU Pressure to Give AI Rivals Android Access
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling was reported, which briefly pressured shares; while not necessarily indicative of fundamentals, it can spook short‑term sentiment ahead of earnings. Alphabet Inc. NASDAQ: GOOGL Shares Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $387.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $385.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $360.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $369.67.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $338.89 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $147.84 and a 12-month high of $349.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $308.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $303.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 2,037,294 shares of company stock worth $94,216,897 over the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by 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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