Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC Acquires 19,318 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 43.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,336 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,318 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 10.9% of Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Freedom Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. President Capital upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $420.19.

Alphabet News Roundup

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 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 value of $149,606.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 451,843 shares of company stock valued at $12,343,852 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $340.65 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $350.06 and a 200-day moving average of $341.71. The stock has a market cap of $4.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.20 and a 52-week high of $408.61. 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:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 4.42%.

Alphabet Profile

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.