Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by Empirical Finance LLC

Key Points

• Empirical Finance reduced its Alphabet stake by 5.1% in the second quarter, selling 12,006 shares and retaining 221,920 shares valued at approximately $78.4 million.
• Institutional ownership remains significant at 27.26%, with several investors increasing their positions, including Worldquant Millennium Advisors, which raised its stake by 76.2%.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 24.2% year over year and earnings well above estimates. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating, though concerns persist over heavy AI infrastructure spending and competitive threats to search advertising.

Empirical Finance LLC cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 221,920 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 12,006 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.2% of Empirical Finance LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Empirical Finance LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $78,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 76.2% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $330,886,000 after purchasing an additional 806,681 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 10.7% during the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Summary

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.71, for a total value of $27,692.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,995 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,414,801.45. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Alphabet from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 target price (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Alphabet from $418.00 to $411.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $415.55.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $330.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.21. The business's 50 day moving average is $345.18 and its 200-day moving average is $341.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $236.58 and a 1-year high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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 currently 4.42%.

About Alphabet

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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