Maridea Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Maridea Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,015 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares during the quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,567,398,000 after buying an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,524,841,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008,374 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,625,595,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $21,630,861,000 after acquiring an additional 3,218,852 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Arete Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, CICC Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $420.19.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, 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 at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total value of $3,832,277.26. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 451,843 shares of company stock valued at $12,343,852. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $340.65 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $350.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $341.71. The company has a market capitalization of $4.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $206.20 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.07 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is testing Gemini 3.8 Flash internally, suggesting a near-term launch of a faster, lower-cost AI model that could strengthen Alphabet’s competitive position and improve AI product monetization. Google employees are already testing the next Gemini Flash AI model
• Positive Sentiment: Google expanded AI Mode with flight-price tracking, hotel booking assistance and loyalty-point comparisons. The additions could increase user engagement and protect Google’s role in travel-related advertising and transactions. Google’s AI Mode can now track flight prices, help book hotels, and more
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains favorable, citing approximately 14.4% advertising growth in the second quarter, AI-enhanced Search and YouTube tools, diversified revenue and a lower valuation than some large technology peers. GOOGL Rides on Strong Advertising Revenues
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway reportedly increased its Alphabet position by 83% to about $37.8 billion, providing a high-profile vote of confidence in Alphabet’s search, cloud and AI growth prospects. Berkshire Boosts Its Bet
• Positive Sentiment: Barret Zoph, a prominent AI researcher and Thinking Machines co-founder, is joining Google as a research vice president. The hire may help address concerns about Google’s recent loss of senior AI talent. Barret Zoph is now at Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Google joined more than 100 technology companies calling for coordinated defenses against AI-related cyber threats. The initiative supports responsible AI adoption but has limited immediate financial impact. Companies call for action against rogue AI
• Negative Sentiment: The FTC is reportedly nearing a potential lawsuit over YouTube account suspensions and alleged consumer-protection violations, adding regulatory uncertainty around the platform. FTC probes YouTube over social media policies
• Negative Sentiment: Google agreed to pay £260 million, or about $353 million, to settle a UK lawsuit brought by app developers, highlighting continuing legal exposure related to its app-distribution practices. Google agrees to settle UK app developers’ lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced investigations into possible securities-law violations involving Alphabet, which could increase headline risk despite the notices containing no finding of wrongdoing. Pomerantz investor alert
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI infrastructure spending remains a concern: servers represented roughly 60% of technical infrastructure investment, while Nvidia-based server prices may rise more than 15%, potentially pressuring capital efficiency and free cash flow. Alphabet infrastructure spending and Nvidia server prices

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.