Kirkwood Financial Services Acquires New Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Kirkwood Financial Services initiated a position in Alphabet, purchasing 1,553 shares worth approximately $555,000 during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own about 40.03% of Alphabet’s shares.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish: Alphabet has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $422.16, although some analysts recently lowered their targets and one downgraded the stock to “Hold.”
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with $119.80 billion in revenue and $9.11 in adjusted EPS, while AI-chip sales and Waymo expansion offer growth opportunities; higher interest rates, heavy AI infrastructure spending and antitrust restrictions remain key risks.

Kirkwood Financial Services bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,553 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $555,000. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.2% of Kirkwood Financial Services' investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 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 worth $277,696,000 after purchasing an additional 93,293 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $25,679,000 after buying an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,902,000. KLCM Advisors Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 9,105 shares during the period. Finally, Elefante Mark B boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Elefante Mark B now owns 43,733 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,897 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DZ Bank raised shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. KeyCorp raised their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $395.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Five equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $422.16.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI chip sales add a new revenue stream: Alphabet began recognizing revenue from sales of its internally developed AI chip systems in the second quarter. Investors may view the business as both a potential growth driver and a way to monetize Google’s technology infrastructure. 2 Stocks to Buy as Google Starts Selling Its AI Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst raises price target: Tigress Financial Partners increased its price target for GOOGL to $485, reflecting confidence in Alphabet’s Search, Cloud, YouTube, Gemini and custom-chip opportunities. Alphabet Price Target Raised to $485
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expands internationally: Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit plans to launch an all-electric robotaxi service in Singapore by 2028, strengthening the long-term investment case for Alphabet’s “Other Bets” portfolio. Waymo to Bring Autonomous Ride-Hailing to Singapore
• Positive Sentiment: Options activity signals bullish positioning: Investors purchased roughly 520,000 Alphabet call options, above typical volume, indicating increased speculative interest in further upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: Ad-tech ruling avoids a breakup but imposes restrictions: A federal judge ordered Google to share more auction data with publishers and appoint an antitrust monitor, but rejected a forced breakup. Avoiding structural separation limits the immediate risk to Alphabet’s advertising business, while the behavioral remedies could pressure operations and margins. Tech Watchdogs Criticize Google Adtech Ruling
• Negative Sentiment: Higher rates and AI spending remain risks: The Federal Reserve’s rate increase and Alphabet’s heavy investment in AI infrastructure could keep pressure on free cash flow and valuation, even as Cloud backlog and AI demand remain strong.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.71, for a total transaction of $27,692.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,995 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,414,801.45. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 450,875 shares of company stock valued at $11,984,482. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $349.54 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $235.84 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $345.20 and a 200 day moving average of $344.91.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.42%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology and holding company founded in 2015 through a restructuring of Google. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and operates globally, serving consumers, businesses, advertisers and developers across numerous countries and regions.

Alphabet's largest business is Google Services, which includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and hardware products such as Pixel devices. These products support activities including internet search, digital content distribution, mobile computing, online communications and advertising.

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