NerdWallet Wealth Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

NerdWallet Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 134.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,957 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,986 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.8% of NerdWallet Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. NerdWallet Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 76.2% during the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $330,886,000 after purchasing an additional 806,681 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned 10-part bond offering of up to $25 billion was met with approximately $115 billion in investor orders, indicating strong confidence in the company’s credit quality and long-term AI strategy. The funds are intended to support data-center expansion and other infrastructure investments. Google’s AI Bond Sale Attracts $115 Billion of Orders
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud continues to benefit from strong AI demand, while AI lab Mirendil signed a multiyear, $100 million-plus agreement to obtain computing capacity from Google Cloud. Such contracts could help monetize Alphabet’s substantial AI infrastructure spending. Mirendil Inks $100M+ Google Cloud Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: The debt sale gives Alphabet additional flexibility to fund its roughly $205 billion AI infrastructure plan, but it also increases borrowing and raises questions about returns on capital. Strong demand for the bonds reduces near-term financing risk, although investors are likely to scrutinize spending discipline and future profitability. Alphabet Seeks Up to $25 Billion From Bond Sale
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet is facing renewed concerns about its ability to lead in frontier AI after chief scientist Jeff Dean departed to launch a startup with other researchers, while DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis moved away from day-to-day management into a broader chief scientist role. The departures heighten fears of a talent drain and potential disruption to Gemini and other AI initiatives. Google Shakes Up AI Leadership
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary suggests Google Cloud’s commercial growth is competing for scarce computing resources and management attention with DeepMind’s longer-term AI research, adding execution risk as Alphabet attempts to scale both businesses. Alphabet’s Cloud Growth Straining Its Frontier AI Push

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total value of $2,232,808.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 600,547 shares of company stock valued at $16,255,540 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities set a $393.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Freedom Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $445.00 target price for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $410.09.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

GOOG stock opened at $356.62 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $354.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $338.85. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $195.22 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. The firm has a market cap of $4.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

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.