BlackRock Inc. Purchases 5,164,200 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• BlackRock increased its Alphabet stake by 1.4% in the second quarter, purchasing 5.16 million additional shares. It now owns 369.9 million shares valued at approximately $130.7 billion, representing 3.02% of Alphabet and 1.9% of BlackRock’s portfolio.
• Institutional investors hold 27.26% of Alphabet, with Vanguard, State Street, Auto Owners Insurance, J. Stern & Co., and JPMorgan among other major holders that recently increased their positions.
• Alphabet reported quarterly revenue of $119.8 billion, up 24.2% year over year, while earnings significantly exceeded estimates. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $415.55, compared with a recent share price of $341.75.

BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 369,922,502 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,164,200 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.9% of BlackRock Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. BlackRock Inc. owned 3.02% of Alphabet worth $130,704,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after acquiring an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $58,712,878,000 after acquiring an additional 953,790 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,643,262,000 after acquiring an additional 179,369,280 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after acquiring an additional 111,699,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $31,569,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,151 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure expansion: Alphabet’s expanded custom-silicon relationship with Marvell covers components connected to Google’s TPU ecosystem, including inference accelerators, networking, storage, and memory products. The agreement gives Alphabet more supply-chain flexibility and supports continued AI capacity growth, although it may increase dependence on multiple chip partners. Jensen Huang Thinks This Chip Stock Could Hit $1 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo growth: Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit received approval to operate thousands of robotaxis in Nevada and has expanded its lower-cost next-generation vehicles to riders in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco. Waymo also introduced a custom AI chip designed to reduce reliance on Nvidia and AMD, potentially improving long-term economics. Robotaxi Permits in Nevada
• Positive Sentiment: Investor and analyst support: Berkshire Hathaway significantly increased its Alphabet position, reinforcing the view that the company fits a value-oriented investment strategy. Rosenblatt initiated coverage with a “Buy” rating, while analysts continue to point to resilient Search, fast-growing Cloud, and strong earnings momentum. Berkshire’s Alphabet Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: DeepMind leadership transition: Nobel Prize-winning co-founder Demis Hassabis is moving from day-to-day management to chairman and chief scientist roles, while Koray Kavukcuoglu will oversee operations. The change could improve Alphabet-wide AI coordination, but investors may monitor execution and retention risks. DeepMind Leadership Change
• Negative Sentiment: Firebase enforcement risk: Indian authorities directed Google to remove hundreds of Firebase accounts allegedly used in bank impersonation scams. The action could increase compliance costs and renew concerns about misuse of Alphabet’s platforms. India Orders Removal of Firebase Accounts

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research set a $460.00 price target on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Freedom Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $460.00 to $420.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $415.55.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total value of $2,232,808.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total transaction of $27,337.98. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,305,738.46. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $341.75 on Monday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $350.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $339.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. The company has a market cap of $4.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $202.13 and a one year high of $404.47.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 4.42%.

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.

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