Kestra Advisory Services LLC Has $188.78 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 13.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 658,110 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,539 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.7% of Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $188,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A grew its holdings in Alphabet by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several pieces highlighted Alphabet’s durable AI and cloud execution, including commentary that its distribution across Search, Android, YouTube, and Google Cloud gives it an edge in monetizing AI better than many rivals.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remained constructive, with Zacks upgrading Alphabet to “strong-buy,” and multiple reports saying the stock still looks undervalued after its strong rally and may have further upside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s cloud and AI ecosystem continues to draw positive coverage, including a new agentic AI collaboration with Accenture and reports that digital demand and data-center growth could support the business in the second half of 2026.
• Positive Sentiment: Long-term confidence also got a boost from comments that Alphabet could be a winner in the AI race due to its massive distribution footprint and ability to turn AI spending into real returns.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s search product set a record for queries per second during the World Cup, reinforcing the strength of its core franchise, though this is more of a usage signal than a direct earnings catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo’s plan to expand driverless rides to more cities supports Alphabet’s optionality in autonomous vehicles, but the impact on near-term stock performance is likely limited.
• Negative Sentiment: News that Google and OpenAI provided AI model access to Singapore-based affiliates of Chinese firms has renewed policy and export-control concerns, which could raise regulatory risk around AI distribution.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet is also facing more scrutiny abroad, including the UK bringing Google cloud services under direct oversight and an ongoing legal fight in India over its ads platform.
• Negative Sentiment: Some traders remain cautious about competition, with reports suggesting Meta could challenge Google’s AI leadership and that Alphabet’s recent price action has lagged broader tech at times.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $355.03 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.54 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The company has a market capitalization of $4.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $369.81 and a 200-day moving average of $335.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.81 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $470.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total transaction of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.