Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Retirement Planning Group LLC

Retirement Planning Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 21.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,018 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,442 shares during the quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,625,595,000 after buying an additional 2,666,676 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $21,630,861,000 after buying an additional 3,218,852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $317.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.82 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $364.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $338.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 15.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 57.20%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 6.71%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet delivered a strong quarter, with revenue of $119.8 billion and EPS of $9.11, both well above expectations, while Google Cloud revenue jumped 82% year over year and YouTube ad revenue also grew solidly. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Management said AI demand is outpacing capacity, which helped justify higher investment plans, and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said existing customers are spending about 50% more than they initially committed. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s Gemini AI assistant now has more than 950 million monthly users, showing continued traction in its AI products and ecosystem. TechCrunch article
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, a small but shareholder-friendly capital return move. MarketBeat reference
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet disclosed a large equity stake in SpaceX, highlighting the value of its investment portfolio, though this is not a direct operating catalyst for the core business. WSJ article
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are falling as investors react to a much higher 2026 capital spending outlook and Alphabet’s first-ever negative free cash flow, raising concerns that AI infrastructure spending could pressure returns. Barron’s article
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet also faces a new €890 million ($1 billion) EU antitrust fine over Search and Play Store practices, adding regulatory pressure. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms announced securities-fraud investigations tied to Alphabet’s disclosures, which can add overhang and keep sentiment fragile. Business Wire article

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets set a $465.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $393.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $419.86.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.