National Pension Service Sells 62,122 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• National Pension Service reduced its Alphabet stake by 0.6%, selling 62,122 shares and retaining 10.55 million shares worth approximately $3.73 billion. Alphabet remains the pension fund’s sixth-largest holding, representing about 2.4% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet is expanding its AI business through the reported acquisition of Mechanize, broader Gemini enterprise partnerships, and planned €13 billion investment in Finnish AI infrastructure. However, investors remain concerned about roughly $200 billion in AI capital spending, rising infrastructure costs, and competition from major AI rivals.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive view, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $415.55. Alphabet recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $9.11 in EPS and $119.8 billion in revenue, while shares opened at $335.45.

National Pension Service reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,550,690 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 62,122 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.4% of National Pension Service's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.09% of Alphabet worth $3,727,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AG Asset Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $363,000. Insight Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 43.0% during the 2nd quarter. Insight Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 216,923 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $76,645,000 after purchasing an additional 5,875 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 41,211 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $14,561,000 after purchasing an additional 2,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.6% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 769,336 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $271,829,000 after buying an additional 54,291 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google completed its acquisition of AI-agent startup Mechanize in a deal reportedly valued at more than $1.5 billion. Mechanize’s former CEO and other employees have joined Google, strengthening Alphabet’s capabilities in autonomous AI agents. Google completes its deal for AI startup Mechanize
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is broadening Gemini’s commercial reach. Google Cloud launched Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services in preview, with Deutsche Bank as an early proving ground, while a new Accenture partnership will train up to 1,000 engineers to implement Gemini applications for enterprise customers. Google Cloud launches AI agents for banking
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s AI tools are gaining traction in media and creative software. Avid Technology said it is working with Google to accelerate creative workflows, while Gemini is increasingly being positioned as a competitor to Adobe’s tools. Google helps Avid accelerate the creative process with AI
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned €13 billion Finland AI infrastructure investment, supported by a long-term nuclear power agreement, could provide more predictable energy costs for data centers and strengthen Google Cloud and TPU capacity. Analysts also see TPU sales as a potential source of additional Cloud growth. Alphabet’s TPU sales could drive Google Cloud upside
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet faces a continuing securities-fraud investigation by the Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz. The announcement is an investor solicitation and does not establish wrongdoing, but it could add headline and litigation risk. Securities fraud investigation into Alphabet continues
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Alphabet’s roughly $200 billion AI capital-spending plans, potential electricity and data-center costs, and competition from OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta. A proposed U.S. bill could also require large data-center operators such as Alphabet to absorb more power-infrastructure costs.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total value of $3,832,277.26. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Six equities research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $415.55.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.5%

Alphabet stock opened at $335.45 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $236.68 and a one year high of $404.47. The company's fifty day moving average price is $344.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $341.64. 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 capitalization of $4.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.21.

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 company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.