Orange Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 18.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 77,039 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 17,334 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.9% of Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its position 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. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $357.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $173.88 and a one year high of $404.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $367.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $332.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.81 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s inclusion in the Dow Jones Industrial Average is drawing passive fund flows and reinforcing its status as a blue-chip tech leader. Reuters: Alphabet debuts in Dow Jones Industrial Average as index tilts toward tech
• Positive Sentiment: New AI product launches, including Nano Banana 2 Lite and Gemini Omni, suggest Alphabet is still pushing harder on cheaper, faster AI tools that could boost adoption and competitiveness. TechCrunch: Google introduces a faster, cheaper image generator with Nano Banana 2 Lite
• Positive Sentiment: FactSet’s strategic partnership with Google Cloud adds another enterprise validation point for Alphabet’s AI and cloud strategy. Yahoo Finance: FactSet Announces Strategic Partnership with Google Cloud to Bring Advanced AI to Financial Intelligence
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remains broadly bullish, with multiple analysts reiterating buy ratings and raising price targets, supporting the idea that recent weakness may be a buying opportunity.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google exceeded its $1 billion Africa investment target, which is strategically positive but not likely a near-term earnings driver. Reuters: Google has exceeded $1 billion Africa investment target
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports highlighted strong long-term AI and cloud upside, but these were largely reiterations of an already bullish thesis rather than new catalysts.
• Negative Sentiment: A Swedish court ordered Google to pay nearly $2 billion in antitrust damages to Klarna’s PriceRunner unit, renewing regulatory pressure on Alphabet’s search and shopping businesses. Reuters: Swedish court says Google is to pay $1.5 billion to Klarna in antitrust damages
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet insiders continued to sell shares, including director Frances Arnold and president John Kent Walker, which can weigh on investor sentiment even if the sales were routine. SEC filing: Alphabet insider transaction
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also worried about Alphabet’s heavy AI infrastructure spending and compute-capacity constraints, which could pressure margins in the near term. Yahoo Finance: Alphabet Could Add 9 GW of Compute Capacity in 2028, Morgan Stanley Says

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.