Ritholtz Wealth Management Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 151,769 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,983 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.8% of Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $43,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 76.2% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $330,886,000 after buying an additional 806,681 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 7.7% during the second quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 10.7% during the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,618,000 after buying an additional 3,616 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $334.71 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $366.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $331.94. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $172.71 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $4.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company’s revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 1st. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $470.00 target price (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $376.78.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s advertising business is still growing, with one analyst note pointing to rising ad revenues and AI-driven ad tools as a source of further upside. Alphabet Benefits From Rising Advertising Revenues: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said the recent sell-off in big tech and AI names looks more like a buying opportunity than a broken AI thesis, and included Alphabet among the core beneficiaries of the AI trend. Wedbush brushes off tech sell-off as buying chance in multi-year AI bull run
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to get bullish long-term commentary from investors who see it as a strong growth and AI compounder, helped by Google Cloud momentum and AI monetization potential. Alphabet: Still A Top-Tier AI Compounder
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is set to join the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is a notable index inclusion but not an immediate fundamental catalyst. Alphabet Set to Join Dow Jones Industrial Average as Verizon Exits Index (GOOG)
• Neutral Sentiment: A new bill would study data-center energy and water measurement standards, which could eventually affect Alphabet’s cloud and AI infrastructure, but it does not create immediate regulation. New Bill: Representative Suhas Subramanyam introduces H.R. 9372: Data Infrastructure Energy Measurement and Standards Act
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern is centered on Google’s AI talent exodus, with reports of more researchers leaving for rivals like Anthropic, raising worries about execution in Gemini and broader AI competitiveness. Alphabet Shares Fall After Report on Further AI Talent Departures
• Negative Sentiment: A separate report said Google is taking a tougher stance with publishers to secure broader content access for AI training, while publishers warn that traffic declines are already hurting them, adding to regulatory and relationship risk. Google looks to bleed publishers with new AI partnerships that would cull their content
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles this week continued to highlight weakness in the “all-in on AI” trade and pressure on Alphabet shares tied to AI talent losses and competitive fears. Ranking the FAANG Stocks From Most to Least Attractive, Based on Future Cash Flow

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 151,523 shares of company stock valued at $4,863,526 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.