Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 7,219 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. reduced its Alphabet position by 7,219 shares, or 0.6%. It still held 1,119,936 shares valued at approximately $395.7 million at the end of the second quarter.
• Alphabet reported quarterly earnings of $9.11 per share, far exceeding the $2.87 analyst consensus, while revenue rose 24.2% year over year to $119.8 billion.
• Analysts maintain a generally bullish outlook, with Alphabet receiving a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $415.55, compared with a recent share price of $339.08. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,119,936 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,219 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $395,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $339.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.21. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $226.76 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The business's fifty day moving average is $346.95 and its 200 day moving average is $340.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. 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 analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $418.00 to $411.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $415.55.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Gemini 3.8 Flash, including versions designed for coding, agentic tasks and cybersecurity. The release reinforces Alphabet’s effort to close performance gaps with OpenAI and Anthropic and supports the investment case for its AI products and cloud platform. Google's Gemini 3.8 Flash is built for agents
• Positive Sentiment: New conversational voice features in Gmail, Docs and Keep give users more ways to interact with Google’s AI ecosystem, potentially improving Gemini adoption and monetization across Workspace. Google launches AI voice features in Gmail, Docs and Keep
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel described Alphabet as a significant AI player after Berkshire increased its stake, providing a high-profile vote of confidence in Google’s AI strategy. Berkshire CEO Abel says Alphabet is a significant AI player
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI-related energy initiatives—including a 400-megawatt geothermal agreement with Fervo—highlight efforts to secure power for data-center expansion. Strong recent Cloud growth and revenue momentum further support the bullish narrative. Enhanced geothermal notches another win as Google buys 400 MW from Fervo
• Neutral Sentiment: Google’s WeatherNext 3 model and its collaboration on virtual power plants and clean-energy storage expand Alphabet’s technology and infrastructure partnerships, but the near-term financial impact remains uncertain. Google’s new AI weather model could help energy companies
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet still faces antitrust-related remedies, a securities-fraud investigation announcement and scrutiny over service outages, while its large AI capital-spending program could pressure free cash flow. Reports that a promised Gemini flagship model remains delayed also raise concerns about product execution. Securities fraud investigation into Alphabet continues

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of Alphabet 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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. Insiders have sold 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.

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