Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 77,536 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its Alphabet position by 22.6% in the first quarter, buying 77,536 additional shares for a total holding of 420,149 shares valued at approximately $120.5 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $9.11 versus the $2.87 consensus and revenue of $119.8 billion, up 24.2% year over year. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $410.09.
• Alphabet is expanding its AI efforts through new Pixel products and enterprise partnerships, but investors remain concerned about rising AI capital expenditures, potential margin pressure and regulatory scrutiny.

Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 22.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 420,149 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 77,536 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.8% of Empowered Funds LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $120,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 38,409.2% in the fourth 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 increased its stake in Alphabet by 28,482.8% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in Alphabet by 850.3% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,551,938,000 after purchasing an additional 15,830,754 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Alphabet from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $410.09.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $342.37 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $353.04 and a 200 day moving average of $339.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.23. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid 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 payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 540,470 shares of company stock valued at $14,873,168. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled its Pixel 11 smartphone lineup, Pixel Watch 5 and $29 Pixel Tag, emphasizing Gemini-powered features, agentic AI and new health-monitoring capabilities. The launches could strengthen Alphabet’s hardware ecosystem and create additional opportunities to monetize Gemini. Google unveils Pixel 11 lineup, new AirTag rival, and Gemini features
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud secured a five-year agreement with Ryanair to deploy Gemini Enterprise, Google Workspace and DeepMind models across the airline’s operations, supporting the case for continued enterprise AI demand. Ryanair signs five-year Google Cloud deal
• Positive Sentiment: Capital World Investors added approximately $2.86 billion of Alphabet Class A shares, while other institutions including Optiver, KLP Kapitalforvaltning and Vanguard also reported additions. Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a reported median GOOGL price target of $422.50. Capital World Investors holdings update
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is reorganizing its AI leadership. Koray Kavukcuoglu will head DeepMind and report directly to CEO Sundar Pichai, while co-founder Sergey Brin is urging AI teams to focus intensely on Gemini. The changes signal urgency as Alphabet tries to close the gap with OpenAI and Anthropic, but also highlight execution pressure. Inside the Google executive moves that led to its big AI reshuffle
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concerns remain focused on Alphabet’s sharply higher AI capital expenditures, which could pressure margins, free cash flow and returns if Gemini monetization does not keep pace. Recent reports attributed selling pressure to this spending outlook and broader weakness in large-cap technology stocks. Alphabet slides as AI spending concerns linger
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional positioning is mixed: Federated Hermes cut its Alphabet Class A position by about 22%, Norges Bank reduced Class A shares by roughly 17%, and several other funds trimmed holdings. Alphabet insiders have also reported sales without purchases over the past six months, potentially weighing on sentiment. Federated Hermes holdings update
• Negative Sentiment: French media groups asked regulators to intervene over Google’s AI-generated search summaries, arguing they divert traffic from publishers. The dispute adds to Alphabet’s regulatory exposure alongside ongoing scrutiny of AI safety and platform practices. French media asks watchdog to act on Google’s AI

Alphabet Profile

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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