Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,509,020 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,770 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.7% of Lazard Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,009,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Castleark Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.5% during the first quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 418,019 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $120,206,000 after purchasing an additional 36,380 shares in the last quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $345,000. Family Manage LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. Family Manage LLC now owns 86,432 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,854,000 after buying an additional 16,003 shares during the period. Sculptor Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 346,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $99,496,000 after buying an additional 46,000 shares during the period. Finally, RIHO Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. RIHO Partners LLC now owns 38,825 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,165,000 after buying an additional 6,457 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets set a $465.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $419.86.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $377.65 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.67 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $357.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $339.91. 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 market cap of $4.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.07 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade 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 is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet 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 owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 600,547 shares of company stock worth $16,255,540. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI and earnings momentum remain the main catalyst. Alphabet’s recent quarterly results substantially exceeded expectations, with revenue of $119.8 billion versus the $117.1 billion consensus estimate. Analysts and investors are increasingly viewing the company’s heavy AI spending as supporting accelerating cloud revenue and future monetization. AI stocks have bottomed
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo is showing progress toward commercialization. Alphabet-owned Waymo removed the waitlist for its Dallas robotaxi service, expanding access as it scales across the United States and internationally. Separate analysis reported that Waymo vehicles have materially lower crash rates than human-driven vehicles, strengthening the long-term case for the business. Waymo expands Dallas robotaxi service
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s commercial AI reach is broadening. Oracle is deepening its integration with Google Gemini, while Google also secured computing and strategic partnerships involving SpaceX, Paris Saint-Germain and renewable-energy developer RWE. These deals could support enterprise adoption, cloud demand and infrastructure reliability. Oracle deepens Gemini integration
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is participating in White House AI discussions. Google, OpenAI and Anthropic met with administration advisers regarding voluntary safety testing and a proposed AI oversight framework. Clearer rules could eventually benefit large platforms, although new compliance requirements remain uncertain. White House AI safety meeting
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and regulatory risks are limiting the upside. Pomerantz LLP is investigating potential investor claims, while an advocacy group urged courts to require Google to divest Chrome. Alphabet also faces renewed scrutiny over alleged exclusionary ad-tech practices. These matters could lead to fines, structural remedies or increased operating restrictions. Chrome divestiture advocacy
• Negative Sentiment: AI infrastructure commitments create financial risk. Alphabet is among several hyperscalers facing roughly $1.09 trillion in future data-center lease payments, raising concerns about capital intensity and returns if AI demand or monetization slows. Big Tech data-center lease burden

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.