Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Position Lessened by Empire Financial Management Company LLC

Empire Financial Management Company LLC cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 43.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,490 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 19,538 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.7% of Empire Financial Management Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Empire Financial Management Company LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly discussing a potential deal valued at more than $1.5 billion with AI coding-agent startup Mechanize. The arrangement could provide access to specialized talent and technology in a rapidly expanding AI application market. Google is in talks for a $1.5 billion-plus deal with AI coding agent startup Mechanize
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to benefit from strong fundamentals and AI-related growth opportunities, including its cloud business, advertising franchise and direct sales of custom Tensor Processing Units. Analysts remain broadly optimistic about the stock’s long-term growth prospects. Is Alphabet a Solid Growth Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet-owned Waymo opened its Dallas robotaxi service to all residents and visitors, supporting the company’s effort to scale autonomous-driving operations. Waymo opens up robotaxi service in Dallas to everyone
• Neutral Sentiment: Demis Hassabis is moving from leading Google DeepMind into an Alphabet chief scientist role focused on long-term research and AI safety. Management described the move as a leadership realignment, but investors are weighing whether it could disrupt near-term product execution. Google shakes up AI leadership as DeepMind chief shifts role
• Negative Sentiment: Longtime chief scientist Jeff Dean and three other senior AI researchers are leaving Google to launch Discovery Loop, an AI startup focused on automated research and drug design. The departures intensify concerns over the loss of influential technical talent during the AI race. Google chief scientist Jeff Dean leaving in AI reshuffle
• Negative Sentiment: The leadership overhaul comes while Google’s latest flagship Gemini release remains delayed, increasing investor anxiety about product momentum and competitive positioning. Why is Alphabet stock falling?
• Negative Sentiment: A U.K. tribunal allowed a roughly $6.7 billion advertiser class action to proceed, adding to Alphabet’s regulatory and legal exposure in its search and advertising businesses. UK Tribunal Rejects Google Bid to Block Advertiser Class Action

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOGL. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment 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 MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $419.86.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $362.43 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $356.85 and its 200-day moving average is $340.12. The company has a market cap of $4.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.67 and a 12 month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 4.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the director owned 18,914 shares in the company, valued at $6,305,738.46. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 600,547 shares of company stock valued at $16,255,540 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

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.