Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Rockland Trust Co.’s Largest Position

Rockland Trust Co. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 407,768 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 39,479 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 5.7% of Rockland Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $145,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $85,557,000 after buying an additional 48,805 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $345.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $353.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $341.10. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.60 and a 52 week high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share 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 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.42%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway sharply increased its Alphabet position. Berkshire owned approximately 106 million shares worth $37.9 billion at the end of June after raising its stake by 83% in the second quarter. Alphabet is now Berkshire’s third-largest U.S.-listed equity holding, a high-profile vote of confidence under CEO Greg Abel. Berkshire Hathaway boosts Alphabet to a top three holding
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s SpaceX investment has become exceptionally valuable. The company disclosed that its roughly $900 million investment in SpaceX in 2015 was worth about $94 billion at the end of June. The gain highlights Alphabet’s ability to generate returns from strategic investments, although it is not recurring operating revenue. Alphabet’s SpaceX bet grows 100-fold over a decade
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Gemini 3.7 Flash for coding and automated business workflows. The new model could strengthen Alphabet’s position in enterprise AI and agent-based software, although investors are still awaiting details on the flagship Gemini Pro release. Google unveils Gemini 3.7 Flash AI model
• Neutral Sentiment: Google will let users remove visible watermarks from AI-generated images, videos and songs while retaining invisible SynthID and C2PA metadata. The policy may improve user flexibility but could raise questions about content provenance and misuse. Google will now allow users to remove visible watermark from its AI generations
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment and competitive pressures remain overhangs. Reports cite rising AI capital expenditures and cash-flow pressure, while Nvidia’s large financing arrangement could challenge Alphabet’s custom-chip strategy. Traders also reduced expectations for an imminent Gemini Pro launch. Alphabet’s stock slips as Nvidia financing deal threatens custom chips
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Alphabet from “strong buy” to “hold,” reflecting valuation and spending concerns. In addition, Pomerantz announced an investigation into potential investor claims, creating a modest legal-risk overhang. GOOGL Down 19% From 52-Week High

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price objective (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. CICC Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 target price (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.