Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $2.55 Billion Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,235,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 629,555 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.2% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,554,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 275,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $86,596,000 after buying an additional 2,850 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 298.2% in the second quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,854,000 after acquiring an additional 16,647 shares during the last quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 340,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $106,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Montchanin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,075,000. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,489 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,773,000 after acquiring an additional 3,575 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Alphabet from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays reiterated 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. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 21st. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $415.55.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure expansion: Alphabet’s expanded custom-silicon relationship with Marvell covers components connected to Google’s TPU ecosystem, including inference accelerators, networking, storage, and memory products. The agreement gives Alphabet more supply-chain flexibility and supports continued AI capacity growth, although it may increase dependence on multiple chip partners. Jensen Huang Thinks This Chip Stock Could Hit $1 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo growth: Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit received approval to operate thousands of robotaxis in Nevada and has expanded its lower-cost next-generation vehicles to riders in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco. Waymo also introduced a custom AI chip designed to reduce reliance on Nvidia and AMD, potentially improving long-term economics. Robotaxi Permits in Nevada
• Positive Sentiment: Investor and analyst support: Berkshire Hathaway significantly increased its Alphabet position, reinforcing the view that the company fits a value-oriented investment strategy. Rosenblatt initiated coverage with a “Buy” rating, while analysts continue to point to resilient Search, fast-growing Cloud, and strong earnings momentum. Berkshire’s Alphabet Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: DeepMind leadership transition: Nobel Prize-winning co-founder Demis Hassabis is moving from day-to-day management to chairman and chief scientist roles, while Koray Kavukcuoglu will oversee operations. The change could improve Alphabet-wide AI coordination, but investors may monitor execution and retention risks. DeepMind Leadership Change
• Negative Sentiment: Firebase enforcement risk: Indian authorities directed Google to remove hundreds of Firebase accounts allegedly used in bank impersonation scams. The action could increase compliance costs and renew concerns about misuse of Alphabet’s platforms. India Orders Removal of Firebase Accounts

Alphabet Trading Up 1.0%

GOOG opened at $341.75 on Friday. 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 cap of $4.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $350.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $339.73. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $202.13 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend 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 is 4.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet 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 sale, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.