Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Holdings Cut by Maverick Capital Ltd.

Maverick Capital Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 23.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 872,697 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 268,806 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.9% of Maverick Capital Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Maverick Capital Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $250,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Excelsior Advisor Network LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.5% during the first quarter. Excelsior Advisor Network LLC now owns 3,241 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $930,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in Alphabet by 26.4% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 3,153,752 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $904,686,000 after purchasing an additional 659,020 shares during the last quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P grew its stake in Alphabet by 22.0% in the first quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P now owns 211,491 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $60,668,000 after purchasing an additional 38,173 shares in the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. grew its stake in Alphabet by 102.0% in the first quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 8,255 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 4,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,441,182 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $987,137,000 after purchasing an additional 565,168 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $332.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $358.25 and a 200-day moving average of $337.68. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $188.70 and a 52-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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Roth Capital boosted their price target on Alphabet from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wedbush initiated coverage on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $445.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research set a $460.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $410.09.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals are supporting the rebound. Alphabet’s latest quarter featured 24.2% revenue growth, an EPS beat, and an 82% year-over-year increase in Google Cloud revenue. Analysts and investors argue that AI adoption, Search resilience, YouTube growth, and improving cloud profitability can eventually justify the company’s large infrastructure investments. Alphabet: Buy The Capex-Caused Decline
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and institutional backing remains constructive. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to “strong buy,” while KeyCorp modestly raised its FY2028 EPS estimate. Asset Management One also added approximately 117,000 GOOGL shares, signaling continued institutional confidence despite recent volatility. Alphabet upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube expanded its monetization ecosystem. A multiyear agreement will bring Peacock content, including sports and entertainment programming, to YouTube Premium subscribers in the United States, potentially strengthening engagement and subscription value. YouTube and Peacock deal
• Neutral Sentiment: AI remains both the growth engine and the central debate. More than 1,100 technology employees urged governments to establish stronger AI-safety rules. The issue could increase compliance costs, but coordinated regulation may also benefit large, well-funded platforms such as Google over smaller competitors. AI safety plan
• Negative Sentiment: Capital-spending concerns continue to cap enthusiasm. Alphabet’s roughly $195 billion–$205 billion 2026 capex forecast has pushed free cash flow negative and raised questions about returns on AI infrastructure. Investors are looking for evidence that Cloud growth and AI monetization will outpace the spending burden.
• Negative Sentiment: European legal risks are escalating. Following a $1 billion Digital Markets Act fine, rivals could pursue as much as $10 billion in private damages claims, creating potential financial and operational pressure on Google’s European business. Google European damages claims

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 285,049 shares of company stock worth $10,051,351. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.