Bright Rock Capital Management LLC Sells 27,000 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Bright Rock Capital Management cut its Alphabet stake by 25.7% in the second quarter, selling 27,000 shares and retaining 78,000 shares valued at approximately $27.9 million. Alphabet remains the firm’s largest holding, representing 5.6% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet reported quarterly earnings of $9.11 per share and $119.8 billion in revenue, exceeding analyst expectations. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, equivalent to a 0.3% annual yield.
• Despite some insider selling and concerns about rising AI spending and competition, institutional ownership remains significant at 40.03%, while analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $419.86.

Bright Rock Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 25.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 27,000 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 5.6% of Bright Rock Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after buying an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,524,841,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $45,625,595,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $21,630,861,000 after acquiring an additional 3,218,852 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $345.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $353.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $341.10. 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 52 week low of $196.60 and a 52 week high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway sharply 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% in the second quarter. Alphabet is now Berkshire’s third-largest U.S.-listed equity holding, a high-profile vote of confidence under CEO Greg Abel. Berkshire Hathaway boosts Alphabet to a top three holding
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s SpaceX investment has become exceptionally valuable. The company disclosed that its roughly $900 million investment in SpaceX in 2015 was worth about $94 billion at the end of June. The gain highlights Alphabet’s ability to generate returns from strategic investments, although it is not recurring operating revenue. Alphabet's SpaceX bet grows 100-fold over a decade
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Gemini 3.7 Flash for coding and automated business workflows. The new model could strengthen Alphabet’s position in enterprise AI and agent-based software, although investors are still awaiting details on the flagship Gemini Pro release. Google unveils Gemini 3.7 Flash AI model
• Neutral Sentiment: Google will let users remove visible watermarks from AI-generated images, videos and songs while retaining invisible SynthID and C2PA metadata. The policy may improve user flexibility but could raise questions about content provenance and misuse. Google will now allow users to remove visible watermark from its AI generations
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment and competitive pressures remain overhangs. Reports cite rising AI capital expenditures and cash-flow pressure, while Nvidia’s large financing arrangement could challenge Alphabet’s custom-chip strategy. Traders also reduced expectations for an imminent Gemini Pro launch. Alphabet's stock slips as Nvidia financing deal threatens custom chips
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Alphabet from “strong buy” to “hold,” reflecting valuation and spending concerns. In addition, Pomerantz announced an investigation into potential investor claims, creating a modest legal-risk overhang. GOOGL Down 19% From 52-Week High

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets set a $465.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 price target (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. New Street Research raised their price objective on Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $419.86.

Alphabet Profile

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.

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