Western Wealth Management LLC Buys 19,571 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Western Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 48.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,933 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,571 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.6% of Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,508 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,844 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $460.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Six 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $410.09.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google’s Gemini app surpassed 1 billion monthly active users, marking the 14th Google product to reach that milestone. The figure supports Alphabet’s argument that its AI products are gaining meaningful consumer traction. Google’s Gemini app surges to one billion users
• Positive Sentiment: Ryanair agreed to a five-year Google Cloud partnership covering Gemini and DeepMind models, including crew scheduling and operational decisions. The deal offers another example of enterprise demand for Google Cloud’s AI capabilities. Ryanair signs five-year Google Cloud deal
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain bullish, with reported buy or equivalent ratings and a median GOOGL price target of $422.50. Recent institutional filings also showed purchases by Vanguard Personalized Indexing, BlackRock, State Street and Berkshire Hathaway, although the filings reflect earlier reporting periods.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet will meet White House officials alongside Meta, Anthropic and OpenAI to discuss voluntary safety testing for advanced AI models. Cooperation could improve industry credibility, but the meeting highlights increasing scrutiny of AI risks. Alphabet, Meta and AI safety discussions
• Negative Sentiment: The main pressure appears to be concern over Alphabet’s elevated AI infrastructure spending—reported capital-expenditure guidance of roughly $195 billion to $205 billion for 2026—and its effect on margins, free cash flow and investment returns. A broader decline in large-cap technology stocks added to the selling.
• Negative Sentiment: French news organizations asked regulators to intervene over Google’s AI-generated search summaries, arguing that they reduce traffic to publishers. Alphabet also faces thousands of social-media addiction lawsuits and broader concerns about AI safety and misinformation. French media asks watchdog to act on Google’s AI

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade 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 this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total transaction of $27,337.98. Following the sale, the director owned 18,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,305,738.46. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 600,547 shares of company stock valued at $16,255,540. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.6%

GOOG opened at $343.00 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.46 and a 12 month high of $404.47. The company has a market cap of $4.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. 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 50 day moving average of $353.30 and a 200 day moving average of $339.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. 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 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.