Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Lowers Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Franklin Street Advisors reduced its Alphabet position by 7.9% in the second quarter, selling 2,078 shares and retaining 24,389 shares valued at approximately $8.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 40.03% of Alphabet.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $9.11 per share and revenue of $119.8 billion, exceeding analyst expectations. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share.
• Analysts remain broadly optimistic, assigning Alphabet a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $419.86, although concerns persist over substantial AI-related capital spending and pressure on free cash flow.

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,389 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,078 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $277,696,000 after acquiring an additional 93,293 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $25,679,000 after acquiring an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,902,000. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 118,966 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,236,000 after purchasing an additional 17,415 shares during the period. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 66.1% in the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 22,877 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,161,000 after purchasing an additional 9,105 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $353.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - 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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given 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 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

Trending Headlines about 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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714 in the last quarter. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $395.00 target price (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $419.86.

Alphabet Company 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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