Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,171,781 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,165 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.2% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,534,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mindset Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,221,000 after purchasing an additional 2,663 shares during the period. Journey Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 17,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,262,000 after purchasing an additional 2,611 shares during the period. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 18,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,674,000 after purchasing an additional 4,687 shares during the period. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 97.9% in the second quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 26,512 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,367,000 after purchasing an additional 13,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.0% in the second quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 430,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $152,153,000 after purchasing an additional 12,717 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value 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. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major investors increased Alphabet holdings. Berkshire Hathaway reportedly added about $17 billion of Alphabet stock in the second quarter, while Stanley Druckenmiller, Seth Klarman, David Tepper, and other prominent investors also initiated or expanded positions. The buying signals confidence in Alphabet’s valuation and long-term AI opportunity. Berkshire Hathaway adds $17 billion to Alphabet stake
• Positive Sentiment: AI and cloud momentum remains a key bullish catalyst. Commentary highlighted Google Cloud’s 82% quarterly growth, a backlog exceeding $514 billion, Gemini’s reported one billion active users, and the potential for externally sold Tensor Processing Units to become a significant revenue stream beginning in 2027. Alphabet external TPU sales likely game changer
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is acquiring Spirit Airlines’ anonymized business data for $10 million. Google plans to use the data for product development and AI-model training; the transaction excludes customer records. The deal is financially small but supports Alphabet’s effort to improve AI systems with proprietary datasets. Google to buy Spirit Airlines business data
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s disclosed SpaceX investment has appreciated substantially. Reports estimate the stake is now worth roughly $94 billion, potentially strengthening investor perceptions of Alphabet’s investment portfolio, although the value is tied to SpaceX’s volatile private-market valuation. Alphabet SpaceX investment gains
• Negative Sentiment: AI infrastructure spending is creating cash-flow and financing concerns. Alphabet plans more than $200 billion in 2026 capital expenditures and is considering a record A$5 billion Australian bond offering to fund expansion. Investors are increasingly focused on whether future AI returns will justify the spending and additional debt. Alphabet Australian bond offering
• Negative Sentiment: Macro and competitive risks are tempering enthusiasm. ECB researchers warned that a sharp AI-stock correction is historically plausible, while some investors argued Alphabet is a materially different—and less attractive—company than it was two years ago. Viking Global also reportedly reduced its Alphabet position. ECB researchers warn of AI selloff

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Alphabet from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $415.55.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $341.45 on Tuesday. 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 $4.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $351.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $339.66. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $197.46 and a one year high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.42%.

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.