Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 6,273 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Washington Trust Advisors reduced its Alphabet stake by 4%, selling 6,273 shares in the second quarter and retaining 149,892 shares valued at approximately $53.6 million. Alphabet remains the fund’s fifth-largest holding and represents about 4% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with $119.8 billion in revenue and $9.11 in adjusted earnings per share, while new AI-chip sales, Waymo’s international expansion and bullish analyst targets support its growth outlook.
• Key risks include higher interest rates, substantial AI infrastructure spending and antitrust remedies requiring Google to share ad-auction data, although a court rejected a forced breakup of the advertising business.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 149,892 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,273 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 4.0% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $53,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. EMC Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 319.6% during the first quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. now owns 214 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graney & King LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 38.5% during the 2nd quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 180 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company's 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 owned 18,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,615,656.24. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 450,875 shares of company stock worth $11,984,482 over the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting 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.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $349.54 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $235.84 and a one year high of $408.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $345.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $344.91.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. DZ Bank raised shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $422.16.

About Alphabet

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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