Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Purchases 3,352 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,259 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,352 shares during the period. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,103 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,803,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 43.6% in the 2nd quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,047 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,550,000 after purchasing an additional 3,051 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 14,263 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,040,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Bienville Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bienville Capital Management LLC now owns 3,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,336,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% during the second quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,362 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,601,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google completed its acquisition of AI-agent startup Mechanize in a deal reportedly valued at more than $1.5 billion. Mechanize’s former CEO and other employees have joined Google, strengthening Alphabet’s capabilities in autonomous AI agents. Google completes its deal for AI startup Mechanize
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is broadening Gemini’s commercial reach. Google Cloud launched Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services in preview, with Deutsche Bank as an early proving ground, while a new Accenture partnership will train up to 1,000 engineers to implement Gemini applications for enterprise customers. Google Cloud launches AI agents for banking
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s AI tools are gaining traction in media and creative software. Avid Technology said it is working with Google to accelerate creative workflows, while Gemini is increasingly being positioned as a competitor to Adobe’s tools. Google helps Avid accelerate the creative process with AI
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned €13 billion Finland AI infrastructure investment, supported by a long-term nuclear power agreement, could provide more predictable energy costs for data centers and strengthen Google Cloud and TPU capacity. Analysts also see TPU sales as a potential source of additional Cloud growth. Alphabet’s TPU sales could drive Google Cloud upside
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet faces a continuing securities-fraud investigation by the Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz. The announcement is an investor solicitation and does not establish wrongdoing, but it could add headline and litigation risk. Securities fraud investigation into Alphabet continues
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Alphabet’s roughly $200 billion AI capital-spending plans, potential electricity and data-center costs, and competition from OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta. A proposed U.S. bill could also require large data-center operators such as Alphabet to absorb more power-infrastructure costs.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Roth Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 target price (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report 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 target on the stock. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $335.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.21. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $236.68 and a 52 week high of $404.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $344.76 and a 200 day moving average of $341.64.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.52 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. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total value of $3,832,277.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent company of Google. It was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring intended to separate Google’s core internet businesses from a collection of other ventures. Google remains Alphabet’s largest business and serves users, advertisers, businesses and developers worldwide.

Google’s principal products and services include its internet search engine, online advertising platforms, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Photos.