1,021,300 Shares in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Purchased by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems acquired 1.02 million Alphabet shares worth approximately $360.9 million, making GOOG its sixth-largest holding at 2.2% of the portfolio.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 24.2% year over year to $119.8 billion and earnings of $9.11 per share versus the $2.87 consensus estimate. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $415.55.
• Alphabet’s AI expansion is supporting investor optimism through new partnerships, Gemini products and infrastructure investments, but concerns remain about roughly $200 billion in potential AI capital expenditures, regulatory costs and competition from Meta’s AI agents.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,021,300 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $360,856,000. Alphabet comprises 2.2% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $31,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Alphabet from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Alphabet from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $415.55.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $330.39 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $236.58 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $345.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $341.69.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $116.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet announced a partnership with Morgan State University to establish an AI campus, potentially expanding long-term talent development, research access and adoption of Google Cloud and Gemini. Alphabet Morgan State University AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched a dedicated Gemini app for Windows PCs, making its AI assistant more accessible and increasing the opportunity to drive usage across consumer devices and services. Gemini Windows app
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned €13 billion investment in Finnish AI infrastructure, alongside a long-term agreement to purchase power from a nuclear plant, could provide reliable, lower-cost electricity for data centers and support Gemini, Search, Maps and YouTube. Google Finland AI infrastructure investment
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investment commentary continue to highlight Alphabet’s cloud growth, more than 20% revenue growth and strong recent earnings as evidence that the company can fund substantial AI investment while maintaining attractive profitability. Alphabet return on invested capital and cloud growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest was listed at zero shares, unchanged from the prior report, so the data provide no meaningful evidence of short-covering pressure or growing bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on the cost of Alphabet’s AI buildout. Estimates that AI capital expenditures could reach roughly $200 billion have raised concerns about pressure on free cash flow, even though the stock’s valuation is viewed as reasonable. Alphabet AI capital expenditures
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s new Muse AI agent has renewed concerns that autonomous assistants could bypass traditional search pages and reduce Google search advertising opportunities. ARK Invest’s decision to sell approximately $28 million of Alphabet and buy Meta added to the competitive sentiment. Meta Muse competition
• Negative Sentiment: Potential regulation could increase infrastructure costs: proposed U.S. legislation would require large data-center users to pay the full incremental cost of power-grid upgrades, while Finnish officials have warned that Google’s expansion could strain electricity supply. Data Center Fair Share Act

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.

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