Senator Investment Group LP Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Senator Investment Group LP lowered its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the period. Senator Investment Group LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 369,922,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $130,704,718,000 after acquiring an additional 5,164,200 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $58,712,878,000 after purchasing an additional 953,790 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in Alphabet by 38,409.2% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,643,262,000 after buying an additional 179,369,280 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in Alphabet by 28,482.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,174,429,000 after buying an additional 111,699,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,569,189,000 after buying an additional 1,073,151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI expansion remains the main bullish catalyst. WeatherNext 3 is being integrated into Search, Maps and Gemini, while new voice-driven Gemini features are rolling out in Gmail, Docs and Keep, creating potential for broader user engagement and monetization. Alphabet Just Gave Search, Maps and Gemini a New AI Advantage
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism is building around Google Cloud, AI services, hardware and long-term earnings growth. Wolfe Research named Alphabet a top pick for 2027, while other coverage highlights strong recent Cloud growth and a median price target well above current trading levels. Alphabet Stock Opinions on Strong Cloud Growth Prospects
• Positive Sentiment: A federal judge declined to force a breakup of Google’s ad-technology business, reducing the most severe regulatory risk, although operational restrictions remain. The decision also supports Alphabet’s ability to retain its existing ad-tech infrastructure. Google Spared From Ad-Business Breakup
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s clean-energy partnerships, including Google-backed battery storage and geothermal projects, strengthen power availability for data centers but are unlikely to materially affect near-term earnings. Google’s New Energy Project Gives Eos Energy a Key Technology Validation
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Alphabet’s roughly $44.9 billion quarterly capital expenditure pushed free cash flow negative for the first time since its IPO. The spending may support future AI and Cloud returns, but it increases execution risk and weighs on near-term valuation. 3 Stocks Built for Higher Rates
• Negative Sentiment: Stronger-than-expected employment data lifted Treasury yields and reduced expectations for near-term rate cuts, pressuring large technology stocks. Alphabet also faces investor concern over delayed Gemini releases, ongoing ad-tech remedies, and shareholder securities-fraud investigations. Securities Fraud Investigation Into Alphabet

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $379.00 price target (down from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price target (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $415.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John 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 transaction of $387,061.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

Alphabet stock opened at $335.31 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $346.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $340.71. The company has a market cap of $4.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.21. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $232.38 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.