Empirical Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Empirical Asset Management increased its Alphabet stake by 38.9% in the second quarter, purchasing 4,149 additional shares. Alphabet represented about 1.2% of the fund’s portfolio, with its holdings valued at $5.29 million.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 40.03% of Alphabet’s shares. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $420.19.
• Alphabet continues to benefit from strong operating momentum, including quarterly revenue of $119.80 billion and EPS of $9.11, while expanding AI infrastructure and Waymo operations. However, antitrust remedies and heavy AI spending remain key risks for investors.

Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 38.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,815 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,149 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.2% of Empirical Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Empirical Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $30,534,239,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 855.3% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,546,413,000 after acquiring an additional 13,004,828 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28,950.0% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,291,926 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,671,986,000 after acquiring an additional 9,259,940 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A federal judge rejected the U.S. government’s request to force Google to sell its AdX advertising exchange, removing the immediate risk of a disruptive breakup. The ruling still requires Google to change certain ad-tech practices, but the decision preserves the structure of a highly profitable business. Google defeats US bid to force ad-tech sale
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway increased its Alphabet position by roughly $10 billion, with CEO Greg Abel describing Google as a significant AI player. The investment provides a high-profile vote of confidence in Alphabet’s AI capabilities and long-term growth prospects. Berkshire CEO comments on Alphabet AI investment
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is securing additional power for its expanding AI infrastructure. Google agreed to purchase approximately 400 megawatts of geothermal electricity from Fervo Energy for a Utah data center, while Eos Energy announced a battery-storage partnership tied to a planned $350 million West Virginia project. These agreements support data-center capacity growth and energy reliability. Google buys geothermal power from Fervo
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expanded paid robotaxi service to Denver, San Diego and Tampa, bringing its operations to 14 U.S. cities. The rollout offers Alphabet investors evidence of increasing commercialization outside the core advertising business. Waymo expands robotaxi service
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports indicate Google may release Gemini 3.8 Flash this week, with internal testing showing improved coding performance. A stronger model could support Cloud and Workspace monetization, although the financial impact remains unproven. New Google AI model report
• Negative Sentiment: The antitrust ruling was not a complete victory: Google must implement undisclosed operational changes intended to address illegal practices and pressure on publisher ad rates. Regulatory scrutiny therefore remains a continuing risk to ad-tech economics. Federal judge declines to break up Google ad technology business
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to weigh Alphabet’s heavy AI infrastructure spending against uncertain returns. Competition from OpenAI and other AI providers, along with reported talent losses, could pressure Google Search and increase the cost of defending its market position. OpenAI advertising competition report

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Truist Financial set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. New Street Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $420.19.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $337.12 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $349.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $342.38. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $224.79 and a 12-month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

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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