PFG Advisors Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

PFG Advisors lowered its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 41.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,935 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 31,950 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.7% of PFG Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 174,798 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $54,852,000 after buying an additional 5,591 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 29,498 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,481,000 after buying an additional 4,546 shares during the last quarter. Bonfire Financial raised its position in Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bonfire Financial now owns 903 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Stone Summit Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Stone Summit Wealth LLC now owns 39,227 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,309,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, Prakash Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Prakash Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,190,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat — EPS and revenue topped estimates; Google Cloud re‑accelerated to ~$20B (≈63% YoY), validating AI monetization and enterprise demand. This is the primary catalyst for the positive market reaction after the print. Q1 Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Ad and subscriptions strength — Search/ads and YouTube showed growth (YouTube ad revenue +11%), and paid subs added ~25M, supporting recurring revenue and ad monetization of AI features. Subscriptions Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and flows — Several firms raised price targets or reiterated Buy ratings (BMO, KeyBanc, William Blair coverage cited), and visible purchases from investors/ARK ahead of earnings signaled conviction. Analyst upgrades reinforce upside expectations. Analyst Upgrades
• Neutral Sentiment: AI commercialization roadmap — Management emphasized AI Mode / Gemini monetization (including potential ads in Gemini) and partnerships (e.g., Stripe integrations), which are long‑term positives but need execution to translate into durable margin expansion. Gemini Ads & AI Mode
• Neutral Sentiment: Cloud demand vs capacity questions — Cloud revenue growth surprised to the upside but management noted capacity constraints and allocation choices; these can boost near‑term revenue but also raise capex/capacity tradeoffs to monitor. Cloud Capacity Constraints
• Negative Sentiment: Reputation & governance risks — Alphabet’s classified AI deal with the Pentagon provoked employee pushback and investor requests for clearer safeguards on cloud/AI use; reputational and governance risks could attract regulatory or workforce friction. Pentagon AI Deal / Governance
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and tax risks — New proposals overseas (e.g., Australia’s levy on local news revenues) and EU focus on cloud/AI regulation increase the policy risk premium on hyperscaler revenues. Monitor regional guidance and potential competitive impacts. Regulatory Risk
• Negative Sentiment: Investor positioning and fund flows — Some funds disclosed large reductions and certain trusts trimmed exposure ahead of earnings; short‑term volatility may persist as options traders had priced in a sizable post‑earnings swing. Fund Activity

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1%

Alphabet stock opened at $347.31 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.49 and a 52-week high of $353.40. The company has a market cap of $4.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $310.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $2.48. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.81 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.53 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,955,564. The trade was a 8.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,037,192 shares of company stock valued at $94,182,217. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $315.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $351.73.

Alphabet Profile

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.