The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its Alphabet position by 11% in the second quarter, selling 1.15 million shares and retaining 9.27 million shares valued at approximately $3.31 billion. Institutional investors own about 40% of Alphabet.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with $119.8 billion in revenue and $9.11 EPS, while analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $420.19.
• Alphabet is accelerating its AI expansion through a planned $15 billion investment in Finnish data centers and AI infrastructure and a 1,000-engineer Google Cloud–Accenture initiative, though rising capital spending, competition from AI agents and EU regulatory changes pose risks.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 11.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,273,694 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,149,658 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.6% of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.08% of Alphabet worth $3,314,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $30,534,239,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 855.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 13,004,828 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28,950.0% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,291,926 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,671,986,000 after buying an additional 9,259,940 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 27,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google announced plans to invest at least €13 billion ($15 billion) in Finnish data centers and AI infrastructure over the next two years—its largest-ever European investment. The facilities are expected to support Gemini, Search, Maps and YouTube, while a power agreement with Fortum, including nuclear energy, may help address AI’s substantial electricity needs. Google to invest $15 billion AI infrastructure in Finland
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud and Accenture launched a joint unit deploying 1,000 engineers to help companies implement AI agents. The initiative could accelerate enterprise adoption of Google’s cloud and AI services and improve monetization of Alphabet’s infrastructure spending. Google Cloud and Accenture AI deployment deal
• Positive Sentiment: Co-founder Sergey Brin is taking a more active role in advancing Gemini, signaling increased founder involvement as Alphabet seeks to strengthen its position in the AI race. Sergey Brin takes bigger role in Google AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts continue to cite Alphabet’s strong return on invested capital, balance sheet and rapidly growing Google Cloud business as long-term strengths. However, the stock’s valuation is being assessed alongside its expanding AI infrastructure commitments.
• Negative Sentiment: The scale of the Finland and broader AI buildout increases capital expenditures and is pressuring free cash flow, creating uncertainty about when the investments will generate sufficient returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s launch of the paid Muse AI agent raised concerns that autonomous assistants could bypass traditional search results, weakening Alphabet’s search advertising model. Higher Treasury yields are also weighing on high-multiple technology stocks. Meta Muse AI agent pressures Alphabet
• Negative Sentiment: Google warned that EU-mandated changes to its European search results could reduce search quality, increase costs for businesses and potentially affect user engagement. Google warns of lower-quality European search results

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Arete Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $425.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $395.00 price objective (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $420.19.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.3%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $330.65 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $347.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $343.57. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $235.84 and a one year high of $408.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.42%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology and holding company founded in 2015 through a restructuring of Google. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and operates globally, serving consumers, businesses, advertisers and developers across numerous countries and regions.

Alphabet's largest business is Google Services, which includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and hardware products such as Pixel devices. These products support activities including internet search, digital content distribution, mobile computing, online communications and advertising.

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