Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Purchased by Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 13.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,393 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,881 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.0% of Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $38,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $73,927,821,000 after acquiring an additional 5,182,111 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,511,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428,266 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,022,926,000 after purchasing an additional 441,177 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 35,357,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,272,146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,117,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,503,035 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,588,323,000 after purchasing an additional 695,736 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,069,864 shares of company stock worth $105,985,041. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $309.37 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $350.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $322.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $274.25. The company has a market cap of $3.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 7.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Truist Financial set a $350.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, December 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.90.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong AI & Cloud momentum — Google’s Gemini and cloud businesses continue to show rapid user and revenue growth, supporting the company’s long‑term monetization outlook and attracting bullish analyst coverage (Scotiabank recently raised its target). Scotiabank Maintains Outperform on Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: New AI shopping monetization tests — Google is rolling shopping features into Search and Gemini, a direct path to monetize AI interactions (ads in AI responses). This supports medium‑term revenue upside as AI becomes an ad/shopping channel. Google Weaves New Shopping Feature Into Search and Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo deployment progress — Waymo’s rollout of next‑gen Ojai robotaxis improves execution visibility for Alphabet’s autonomy unit and shows continued non‑ad growth investments. Waymo begins deploying next-gen Ojai robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Century bond demand — Alphabet’s rare 100‑year bond and a large multi‑currency debt package were heavily subscribed, showing investor appetite for long‑dated paper but raising questions about signal vs. financing choice. Coverage is mixed on whether this is a positive demand signal or a red flag about heavy AI funding. Why Alphabet’s 100-year sterling bond is raising new fears
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional flows mixed — some funds (Egerton, Fisher) added positions while others trimmed. Large 13F moves and continued analyst buy ratings keep a structural buyer base but create near‑term rotation noise. Egerton opens new $338.5M GOOG position
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust probes into search ad auction practices — Reuters/Bloomberg report fresh EU investigations into Google’s ad auction/pricing practices in Europe, a direct regulatory risk to the core ad business and a catalyst for negative investor reaction. Google targeted by EU over search ad auction practices
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and financing fears — heavy FY2026 capex guidance ($175–185B), a $31.5B bond program and the century bond have spooked some investors concerned about free‑cash‑flow pressure and dilution risk, which contributed to recent share weakness after earnings. Alphabet Drops 7% Post Q4 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Some big holders trimming — the Swiss National Bank and several funds have cut GOOGL exposure in recent filings, which can amplify downward pressure in the near term. Swiss National Bank reduces GOOGL holdings

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.