ProVise Management Group LLC Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

ProVise Management Group LLC lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 169,632 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,667 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 4.0% of ProVise Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $59,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the second quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 28,865 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,199,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 41.3% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $870,000 after buying an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 8,446 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,984,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.0% in the 2nd quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 19,758 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,981,000 after acquiring an additional 9,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 460,159 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $162,588,000 after acquiring an additional 10,484 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Alphabet from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 target price (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Alphabet from $418.00 to $411.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price target (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway significantly increased its Alphabet position. Berkshire owned approximately 106 million shares worth $37.9 billion at the end of June after raising its stake by 83% during the second quarter. Alphabet is now Berkshire’s third-largest U.S.-listed equity holding, a notable vote of confidence under CEO Greg Abel. Berkshire Hathaway boosts Alphabet to a top three holding
• Positive Sentiment: Digital advertising estimates improved. July advertiser spending exceeded consensus expectations, supporting the outlook for Alphabet’s core advertising business. Alphabet also launched Gemini 3.7 Flash for coding and automated business workflows, potentially expanding monetization opportunities in enterprise AI. Internet stock advertising estimate revisions
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s SpaceX investment has become a major unrealized asset. The company disclosed that its roughly $900 million investment in SpaceX is now worth about $94 billion, highlighting the value of Alphabet’s venture portfolio, although the gain does not directly represent operating revenue or cash flow. Alphabet’s SpaceX bet grows 100-fold
• Positive Sentiment: Other institutions also added exposure. UniSuper increased its GOOG and GOOGL holdings, while several major funds reported purchases, reinforcing the perception that Alphabet remains attractively valued after its recent pullback.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google expanded Gemini access in schools and introduced tools allowing users to remove visible watermarks from AI-generated content while retaining invisible SynthID protections. These moves could improve adoption but have uncertain near-term financial effects. Google turns on Gemini AI for students
• Negative Sentiment: Gemini lost chatbot-visit share to ChatGPT in July. Although Gemini surpassed one billion monthly active users, its share of chatbot visits fell to 28.8%, raising concerns about competitive momentum in consumer AI.
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment is pressuring cash flow. Analysts continue to flag Alphabet’s very high data-center and chip spending, with some estimates showing weaker free-cash-flow generation than Microsoft and Meta in 2027.
• Negative Sentiment: Several funds reduced Alphabet positions. Barclays, Franklin Resources, Magellan and other managers reported trimming GOOG or GOOGL holdings, partially offsetting Berkshire’s large purchase. Alphabet also faces reputational risk from a reported Google-ad phishing scam and a law-firm investigation of investor claims.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $343.54 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $197.46 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $352.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $339.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total value of $27,337.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,305,738.46. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.