Menlo Advisors LLC Sells 3,668 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Menlo Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 70,325 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,668 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 11.1% of Menlo Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Menlo Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,847,000 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. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,352,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 369,922,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $130,704,718,000 after purchasing an additional 5,164,200 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $58,712,878,000 after purchasing an additional 953,790 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 38,409.2% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after buying an additional 111,699,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Freedom Capital raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $379.00 price objective (down from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $415.55.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google completed its acquisition of AI-agent startup Mechanize in a deal reportedly valued at more than $1.5 billion. Mechanize’s former CEO and other employees have joined Google, strengthening Alphabet’s capabilities in autonomous AI agents. Google completes its deal for AI startup Mechanize
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is broadening Gemini’s commercial reach. Google Cloud launched Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services in preview, with Deutsche Bank as an early proving ground, while a new Accenture partnership will train up to 1,000 engineers to implement Gemini applications for enterprise customers. Google Cloud launches AI agents for banking
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s AI tools are gaining traction in media and creative software. Avid Technology said it is working with Google to accelerate creative workflows, while Gemini is increasingly being positioned as a competitor to Adobe’s tools. Google helps Avid accelerate the creative process with AI
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned €13 billion Finland AI infrastructure investment, supported by a long-term nuclear power agreement, could provide more predictable energy costs for data centers and strengthen Google Cloud and TPU capacity. Analysts also see TPU sales as a potential source of additional Cloud growth. Alphabet’s TPU sales could drive Google Cloud upside
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet faces a continuing securities-fraud investigation by the Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz. The announcement is an investor solicitation and does not establish wrongdoing, but it could add headline and litigation risk. Securities fraud investigation into Alphabet continues
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Alphabet’s roughly $200 billion AI capital-spending plans, potential electricity and data-center costs, and competition from OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta. A proposed U.S. bill could also require large data-center operators such as Alphabet to absorb more power-infrastructure costs.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $335.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $4.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $344.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $341.64. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $236.68 and a 52 week high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.52 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid 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 is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.71, for a total value of $27,692.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,995 shares in the company, valued at $6,414,801.45. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent company of Google. It was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring intended to separate Google’s core internet businesses from a collection of other ventures. Google remains Alphabet’s largest business and serves users, advertisers, businesses and developers worldwide.

Google’s principal products and services include its internet search engine, online advertising platforms, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Photos.