Puff Wealth Management LLC Invests $1.36 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Puff Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,796 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,357,000. Alphabet accounts for about 1.4% of Puff Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co raised its stake in Alphabet by 142.9% in the 4th 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway sharply increased its Alphabet position. Berkshire owned approximately 106 million shares worth $37.9 billion at the end of June after raising its stake by 83% in the second quarter. Alphabet is now Berkshire’s third-largest U.S.-listed equity holding, a high-profile vote of confidence under CEO Greg Abel. Berkshire Hathaway boosts Alphabet to a top three holding
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s SpaceX investment has become exceptionally valuable. The company disclosed that its roughly $900 million investment in SpaceX in 2015 was worth about $94 billion at the end of June. The gain highlights Alphabet’s ability to generate returns from strategic investments, although it is not recurring operating revenue. Alphabet’s SpaceX bet grows 100-fold over a decade
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Gemini 3.7 Flash for coding and automated business workflows. The new model could strengthen Alphabet’s position in enterprise AI and agent-based software, although investors are still awaiting details on the flagship Gemini Pro release. Google unveils Gemini 3.7 Flash AI model
• Neutral Sentiment: Google will let users remove visible watermarks from AI-generated images, videos and songs while retaining invisible SynthID and C2PA metadata. The policy may improve user flexibility but could raise questions about content provenance and misuse. Google will now allow users to remove visible watermark from its AI generations
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment and competitive pressures remain overhangs. Reports cite rising AI capital expenditures and cash-flow pressure, while Nvidia’s large financing arrangement could challenge Alphabet’s custom-chip strategy. Traders also reduced expectations for an imminent Gemini Pro launch. Alphabet’s stock slips as Nvidia financing deal threatens custom chips
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Alphabet from “strong buy” to “hold,” reflecting valuation and spending concerns. In addition, Pomerantz announced an investigation into potential investor claims, creating a modest legal-risk overhang. GOOGL Down 19% From 52-Week High

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $419.86.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $345.90 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $353.66 and a 200 day moving average of $341.10. The stock has a market cap of $4.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.60 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.