Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Bought by Smith Group Asset Management LLC

Smith Group Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 85.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,758 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,079 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its stake in Alphabet by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp set a $445.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $415.55.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $343.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $352.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $339.57. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.46 and a 52 week high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The company's revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway significantly increased its Alphabet position. Berkshire owned approximately 106 million shares worth $37.9 billion at the end of June after raising its stake by 83% during the second quarter. Alphabet is now Berkshire’s third-largest U.S.-listed equity holding, a notable vote of confidence under CEO Greg Abel. Berkshire Hathaway boosts Alphabet to a top three holding
• Positive Sentiment: Digital advertising estimates improved. July advertiser spending exceeded consensus expectations, supporting the outlook for Alphabet’s core advertising business. Alphabet also launched Gemini 3.7 Flash for coding and automated business workflows, potentially expanding monetization opportunities in enterprise AI. Internet stock advertising estimate revisions
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s SpaceX investment has become a major unrealized asset. The company disclosed that its roughly $900 million investment in SpaceX is now worth about $94 billion, highlighting the value of Alphabet’s venture portfolio, although the gain does not directly represent operating revenue or cash flow. Alphabet’s SpaceX bet grows 100-fold
• Positive Sentiment: Other institutions also added exposure. UniSuper increased its GOOG and GOOGL holdings, while several major funds reported purchases, reinforcing the perception that Alphabet remains attractively valued after its recent pullback.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google expanded Gemini access in schools and introduced tools allowing users to remove visible watermarks from AI-generated content while retaining invisible SynthID protections. These moves could improve adoption but have uncertain near-term financial effects. Google turns on Gemini AI for students
• Negative Sentiment: Gemini lost chatbot-visit share to ChatGPT in July. Although Gemini surpassed one billion monthly active users, its share of chatbot visits fell to 28.8%, raising concerns about competitive momentum in consumer AI.
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment is pressuring cash flow. Analysts continue to flag Alphabet’s very high data-center and chip spending, with some estimates showing weaker free-cash-flow generation than Microsoft and Meta in 2027.
• Negative Sentiment: Several funds reduced Alphabet positions. Barclays, Franklin Resources, Magellan and other managers reported trimming GOOG or GOOGL holdings, partially offsetting Berkshire’s large purchase. Alphabet also faces reputational risk from a reported Google-ad phishing scam and a law-firm investigation of investor claims.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company's 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total value of $27,337.98. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,305,738.46. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc NASDAQ: GOOG is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as "Other Bets." Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company's history.

Alphabet's core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company's ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source