Moran Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Moran Wealth Management cut its Alphabet stake by 10.9% in the first quarter, selling 9,388 shares and leaving it with 76,968 shares valued at about $22.1 million.
• Insider selling also picked up, with executive John Kent Walker selling 8,998 shares and director Frances Arnold selling 112 shares; insiders sold 160,465 shares in the last quarter overall.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results with EPS of $5.11 versus $2.68 expected and revenue of $109.9 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.22 from $0.21.

Moran Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 10.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,968 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 9,388 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.7% of Moran Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Moran Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ring Mountain Capital LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Financial Enhancement Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. HRC Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certior Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC now owns 919 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $363.62 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $173.88 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $369.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $334.35. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $376.19.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is looking for another strong earnings report from Alphabet, with AI and Google Cloud expected to keep driving growth ahead of the company’s upcoming results. Alphabet Q2 Earnings Preview: What To Expect From Upcoming Report
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google unit joined a €411 million funding round for Proxima Fusion, reinforcing its interest in frontier energy and other long-duration AI-adjacent opportunities. Google, RWE back Proxima Fusion in €411 million financing round
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Alphabet as a potential “forever holding” for Berkshire-style investors may be helping reinforce the stock’s long-term AI and cash-flow appeal. Prediction: This Magnificent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Will Become Berkshire's Next Forever Holding
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet announced that its Made by Google Pixel event will be held on August 12, which could build anticipation for new hardware updates but is not a major fundamental catalyst by itself. Google's Pixel event is set for August 12
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary comparing Alphabet with Palantir and Taiwan Semiconductor keeps Alphabet in the center of AI-stock debates, but these are mostly valuation and relative-performance discussions rather than direct business news. Palantir Vs. Google: Why Palantir is Surging in July and Should Investors Buy it Over Google?
• Negative Sentiment: TechCrunch reported that Google is expanding AI training to include more user-uploaded media, which could raise fresh privacy concerns and fuel scrutiny over how customer data is used. If you use Google, you're training its AI. Here's how to opt out.
• Negative Sentiment: Business Insider noted that Google’s status as a top tech employer is becoming less certain as AI-linked salary competition pushes some talent elsewhere, which could add pressure to retention. Google's status as the dream tech job is changing. FOMO over AI salaries is only one reason why.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc NASDAQ: GOOG is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as "Other Bets." Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company's history.

Alphabet's core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company's ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.