Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Holdings Trimmed by Shepherd Financial Partners LLC

Shepherd Financial Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,444 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,965 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.7% of Shepherd Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOG. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. HSBC set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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 introduced flexible billing and resource-allocation tools for Gemini Enterprise and Google Antigravity, helping businesses manage unpredictable AI spending. The initiative could reduce a key barrier to enterprise AI adoption and support Google Cloud demand. Google Launches Flexible Billing To Manage Exploding AI Costs
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet expanded Gemini Enterprise with specialized solutions for financial-services and legal customers, including industry-specific agents, data connectors and workflow tools. The launches strengthen Google Cloud’s effort to monetize agentic AI and compete with Microsoft and Anthropic. Google Cloud Launches Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo plans to test autonomous vehicles in Munich and launch driverless rides in Germany in 2027. The expansion provides a long-term growth catalyst for Alphabet’s autonomous-driving investment, although commercialization remains years away. Waymo to launch driverless rides in Germany in 2027
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly increased its Alphabet position by 83% to roughly $37.8 billion, making it one of Berkshire’s largest holdings. The high-profile purchase reinforces investor confidence in Alphabet’s search, cloud and AI businesses. Berkshire Hathaway increases Alphabet stake
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon are reportedly negotiating with China’s Moonshot AI to host its Kimi K3 model, with Moonshot seeking as much as 30% of related revenue. Hosting could create cloud revenue, but the proposed revenue share and U.S.-China technology restrictions may limit the benefit. China’s Moonshot in talks over K3 revenue sharing
• Negative Sentiment: A child-safety settlement involving Meta has renewed scrutiny of how YouTube protects minors. Investors are concerned that similar requirements could expose Alphabet to substantial compliance costs or financial liabilities.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader weakness in the Nasdaq-100 and major technology stocks added selling pressure, with Alphabet identified as a significant contributor to the index’s decline. Rising server prices for systems using Nvidia AI chips could also increase Alphabet’s already heavy infrastructure spending.
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s decision to move its AI-responsibility team outside DeepMind has prompted concerns about researcher independence and the company’s ability to identify risks in increasingly capable models. Calls for tighter U.S.-China AI rules add another layer of regulatory uncertainty.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.2%

Alphabet stock opened at $339.10 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $206.39 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $348.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $339.85. 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.