North Star Asset Management Inc. Invests $24.87 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

North Star Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 69,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $24,871,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $332.03 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $206.96 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $347.23 and its 200 day moving average is $340.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors 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 yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 4.42%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google DeepMind is reportedly preparing to release Gemini 3.8 Flash as early as this week. Internal testing suggests the model narrows Google’s coding-performance gap with OpenAI and Anthropic, potentially improving Alphabet’s position in enterprise AI and software development. New Google AI Model Said to Narrow Gap on Coding Ability
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet-owned Waymo launched public robotaxi service in Denver, San Diego and Tampa, expanding its commercial operations to 14 U.S. cities. The rollout strengthens Alphabet’s long-term autonomous-driving opportunity as competition with Amazon’s Zoox and Tesla intensifies. Waymo accelerates robotaxi expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Google signed a 396-megawatt geothermal power agreement with Fervo Energy, supporting reliable, carbon-free electricity for data-center growth and its AI infrastructure strategy. Fervo signs geothermal power deal with Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway made Alphabet its third-largest holding after reducing Bank of America exposure. The move provides a high-profile vote of confidence, but commentary questioning whether Alphabet is fully valued limits its immediate impact. Alphabet becomes Berkshire’s third-largest holding
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Meta’s AI advertising products and OpenAI’s rapidly growing ad business could threaten Google Search’s advertising dominance and future ad growth. Competition threatens Google Search advertising
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned AI infrastructure spending—reportedly potentially reaching $205 billion this year—is raising concerns about depreciation, free cash flow and operating margins despite strong cloud and AI-driven revenue growth. Big Tech AI spending and depreciation concerns
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators are examining Google’s proposed AI-search publisher opt-out, while a reported £260 million U.K. app-store settlement underscores continuing antitrust and regulatory exposure. EU regulators examine Google AI-search opt-out

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

About Alphabet

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.