Zhang Financial LLC Has $17.71 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Zhang Financial LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,073 shares during the quarter. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $277,696,000 after purchasing an additional 93,293 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $25,679,000 after buying an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $28,902,000. Private Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,736,000 after buying an additional 2,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 118,966 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,236,000 after buying an additional 17,415 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 23,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $442,112.96. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 285,049 shares of company stock valued at $10,051,351 over the last 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $333.71 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $360.45 and its 200 day moving average is $339.07. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $187.82 and a one year high of $408.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.79 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s second-quarter results showed $119.80 billion in revenue and $112.19 billion in net income, while Google Cloud growth and early AI monetization helped reinforce the long-term investment case. Several analysts remain bullish; Phillip Securities upgraded the stock to “strong buy,” and KeyCorp raised its fiscal 2028 EPS estimate to $17.88 while maintaining an “Overweight” rating and a $445 price target. Alphabet Q2 earnings analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to attract support from value investors and dip buyers, with reports indicating that prominent investors increased their positions. The company also secured a multiyear agreement to bring Peacock content to YouTube Premium subscribers, potentially strengthening YouTube’s subscription and content ecosystem. Investors increase Alphabet positions
• Neutral Sentiment: The broader technology market is volatile ahead of major Big Tech earnings and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision. That macro uncertainty may be contributing to sharp moves in Alphabet despite its strong fundamentals. Wall Street rebounds ahead of FOMC
• Negative Sentiment: The primary overhang is Alphabet’s plan to spend roughly $195 billion to $205 billion on 2026 capital expenditures, largely for AI infrastructure. Investors are questioning whether the spending will generate adequate returns after Alphabet reportedly posted negative free cash flow for the first time as a public company and paused buybacks under its prior program. A proposed $69.24 billion Class C stock shelf could also raise dilution concerns. Alphabet AI spending and cash concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet faces additional legal and regulatory risk. European rivals are lining up potential private damages claims after Google lost an initial case under new EU competition rules, while Waymo faces possible federal requirements concerning emergency-response procedures. Major-shareholder sales disclosed in recent SEC filings are a smaller, but potentially negative, sentiment signal. Google faces potential European damages claims

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $419.86.

About Alphabet

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.