Meridian Wealth Management LLC Has $69.40 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Meridian Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,206 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,313 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 2.1% of Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $69,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’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 transaction 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. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 three months, insiders have sold 451,843 shares of company stock worth $12,343,852. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $340.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.11, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $350.06 and its 200 day moving average is $341.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.20 and a 52-week high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.