Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Halter Ferguson Financial cut its Alphabet position by 60.1% in the second quarter, selling 3,430 shares and retaining 2,274 shares valued at approximately $813,000.
• Institutional ownership remains significant, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 40.03% of Alphabet; insider selling totaled 451,945 shares worth about $12.4 million over the past quarter.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with Alphabet carrying a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $420.19. The company also reported quarterly results well above estimates and declared a $0.22-per-share dividend.

Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 60.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,274 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,430 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.1% of Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $85,557,000 after purchasing an additional 48,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank raised its holdings in Alphabet by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating and set a $460.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson set a $350.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $420.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $340.67 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $352.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $341.34. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $199.43 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The firm 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 expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.42%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst remains bullish: Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed its “buy” rating and set a $410 price target, implying substantial upside from the recent trading level. Analyst Scott Devitt also expects Alphabet to reach a new all-time high over the next 12 months. Rosenblatt rating
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure and cloud growth remain key positives: Google Cloud reportedly grew revenue 82% year over year in the latest quarter, while Alphabet’s partnership with Marvell expands access to custom AI accelerators, networking, storage, and memory technologies connected to Google’s TPU ecosystem. The deal could improve supply-chain flexibility and support long-term AI capacity. Marvell Google AI chip deal
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo is expanding commercially: Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit opened its lower-cost next-generation robotaxi to all riders in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco, potentially improving the economics and scalability of the business. Waymo robotaxi expansion
• Neutral Sentiment: Google introduced a “favorite source” feature that lets users prioritize publishers in Search, Discover, and Google News. The move may help preserve publisher relationships and search content quality, but its effect on revenue is uncertain. Google publisher feature
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is reportedly raising approximately $3.9 billion through its first Australian-dollar bond sale. The financing could support AI infrastructure investment, though it also underscores the capital intensity of the company’s expansion plans. Alphabet Australian dollar bond
• Negative Sentiment: Custom-chip competition is increasing: Marvell’s agreement and potential $12.2 billion warrant give Google an incentive to direct more purchases toward Marvell, raising concerns that Broadcom’s previously dominant role in Google’s TPU ecosystem could be diluted. While diversification may benefit Google over time, investors may view the deal as evidence that AI spending will require heavier investment and a more complex supply chain.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and execution risks remain: A court delayed approval of Google’s proposed purchase of Spirit Airlines’ internal data after union objections, while Micro1 is offering more than Google’s reported $10 million bid. Separately, the departure of longtime AI leader Jeff Dean and expectations that the flagship Gemini Pro release may be delayed into the autumn add to investor uncertainty. Spirit Airlines data sale delay
• Negative Sentiment: A law firm announced an investigation into potential claims on behalf of Alphabet investors, creating an additional headline risk, although no allegations or financial impact were established in the announcement. Alphabet investor investigation

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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