HighTower Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,104,869 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 38,781 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $743,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $330.39 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $345.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $341.69. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $236.58 and a 12-month high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on GOOG. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 target price (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $420.00 price objective (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $418.00 to $411.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet announced a partnership with Morgan State University to establish an AI campus, potentially expanding long-term talent development, research access and adoption of Google Cloud and Gemini. Alphabet Morgan State University AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched a dedicated Gemini app for Windows PCs, making its AI assistant more accessible and increasing the opportunity to drive usage across consumer devices and services. Gemini Windows app
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned €13 billion investment in Finnish AI infrastructure, alongside a long-term agreement to purchase power from a nuclear plant, could provide reliable, lower-cost electricity for data centers and support Gemini, Search, Maps and YouTube. Google Finland AI infrastructure investment
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investment commentary continue to highlight Alphabet’s cloud growth, more than 20% revenue growth and strong recent earnings as evidence that the company can fund substantial AI investment while maintaining attractive profitability. Alphabet return on invested capital and cloud growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest was listed at zero shares, unchanged from the prior report, so the data provide no meaningful evidence of short-covering pressure or growing bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on the cost of Alphabet’s AI buildout. Estimates that AI capital expenditures could reach roughly $200 billion have raised concerns about pressure on free cash flow, even though the stock’s valuation is viewed as reasonable. Alphabet AI capital expenditures
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s new Muse AI agent has renewed concerns that autonomous assistants could bypass traditional search pages and reduce Google search advertising opportunities. ARK Invest’s decision to sell approximately $28 million of Alphabet and buy Meta added to the competitive sentiment. Meta Muse competition
• Negative Sentiment: Potential regulation could increase infrastructure costs: proposed U.S. legislation would require large data-center users to pay the full incremental cost of power-grid upgrades, while Finnish officials have warned that Google’s expansion could strain electricity supply. Data Center Fair Share Act

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent company of Google. It was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring intended to separate Google’s core internet businesses from a collection of other ventures. Google remains Alphabet’s largest business and serves users, advertisers, businesses and developers worldwide.

Google’s principal products and services include its internet search engine, online advertising platforms, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Photos.