Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Lowers Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,213,803 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 46,742 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $791,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. 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: Google Cloud revenue growth and expanding margins continue to support Alphabet’s AI investment strategy. Supporters argue that cloud growth—reportedly up 82% year over year—could eventually justify the company’s much higher spending. Google Cloud growth article
• Positive Sentiment: A federal judge rejected a forced breakup of Google’s ad-tech business, limiting the immediate structural risk to Alphabet. The company will instead face behavioral remedies, although the ad-network business recently contracted. Google ad-business ruling
• Positive Sentiment: New AI features in Gmail, Docs and Keep, along with continued Gemini development, could improve user engagement and strengthen Alphabet’s competitive position in generative AI. Rosenblatt also reaffirmed a buy rating with a $410 price target. Google AI product launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share on September 14 to shareholders of record on September 4, providing a modest income component but unlikely to materially change the investment case. Alphabet dividend article
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet raised 2026 capital-spending guidance to approximately $195 billion–$205 billion. Second-quarter free cash flow turned negative as capital expenditures reached $44.9 billion, raising concerns that AI infrastructure spending may take years to generate adequate returns. Alphabet cloud margins and AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also concerned about execution: Gemini 3.5 Pro reportedly remained delayed, while the company faces multiple securities-fraud investigations and continued scrutiny over its ad-tech practices. These issues add legal and competitive risk to an already expensive AI buildout. Gemini delay article

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total value of $2,232,808.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. New Street Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $411.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $420.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $338.46 on Monday. 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 $4.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.90 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $349.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $342.87.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend 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.