Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 32.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,673 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 40,646 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 3.8% of Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in Alphabet by 38,409.2% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after buying an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 850.3% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,551,938,000 after buying an additional 15,830,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $132,114,125,000 after buying an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $339.10 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $206.39 and a 1 year high of $404.47. 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 capitalization of $4.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $348.88 and a 200-day moving average of $339.85.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced 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 company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google introduced flexible billing and resource-allocation tools for Gemini Enterprise and Google Antigravity, helping businesses manage unpredictable AI spending. The initiative could reduce a key barrier to enterprise AI adoption and support Google Cloud demand. Google Launches Flexible Billing To Manage Exploding AI Costs
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet expanded Gemini Enterprise with specialized solutions for financial-services and legal customers, including industry-specific agents, data connectors and workflow tools. The launches strengthen Google Cloud’s effort to monetize agentic AI and compete with Microsoft and Anthropic. Google Cloud Launches Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo plans to test autonomous vehicles in Munich and launch driverless rides in Germany in 2027. The expansion provides a long-term growth catalyst for Alphabet’s autonomous-driving investment, although commercialization remains years away. Waymo to launch driverless rides in Germany in 2027
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly increased its Alphabet position by 83% to roughly $37.8 billion, making it one of Berkshire’s largest holdings. The high-profile purchase reinforces investor confidence in Alphabet’s search, cloud and AI businesses. Berkshire Hathaway increases Alphabet stake
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon are reportedly negotiating with China’s Moonshot AI to host its Kimi K3 model, with Moonshot seeking as much as 30% of related revenue. Hosting could create cloud revenue, but the proposed revenue share and U.S.-China technology restrictions may limit the benefit. China’s Moonshot in talks over K3 revenue sharing
• Negative Sentiment: A child-safety settlement involving Meta has renewed scrutiny of how YouTube protects minors. Investors are concerned that similar requirements could expose Alphabet to substantial compliance costs or financial liabilities.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader weakness in the Nasdaq-100 and major technology stocks added selling pressure, with Alphabet identified as a significant contributor to the index’s decline. Rising server prices for systems using Nvidia AI chips could also increase Alphabet’s already heavy infrastructure spending.
• Negative Sentiment: Google’s decision to move its AI-responsibility team outside DeepMind has prompted concerns about researcher independence and the company’s ability to identify risks in increasingly capable models. Calls for tighter U.S.-China AI rules add another layer of regulatory uncertainty.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Freedom Capital raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

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.