Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Acquired by Empire Life Investments Inc.

Empire Life Investments Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 298,789 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,419 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 5.3% of Empire Life Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $93,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 76.2% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $330,886,000 after buying an additional 806,681 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the second quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total value of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% 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, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock worth $27,422,061. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $383.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $334.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $320.40. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.33 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.25, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.81 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Pivotal Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $470.00 price objective (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $372.65.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google I/O 2026 highlighted new AI products, smarter Search, Gemini upgrades, AI ad tools, and agentic features that could boost Alphabet’s monetization across ads, cloud, and consumer services.
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America, UBS and other analysts reiterated bullish views after the AI showcase, reinforcing confidence that Alphabet can turn AI adoption into revenue growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s new financing and infrastructure moves, including the yen note sale and Missouri data-center investment, support long-term AI capacity expansion.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet continues to receive mixed commentary around valuation and market expectations after a sharp rally, which may limit near-term upside.
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo suspended freeway robotaxi rides and paused Atlanta operations while fixing safety issues in construction zones and flooded roads, creating headline risk for Alphabet.
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh insider selling by a director and additional regulatory/labor complaints in Europe add some short-term pressure and sentiment risk.

Alphabet Company 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.