Route One Investment Company L.P. Cuts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Route One Investment Company L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 584,050 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 105,030 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 8.3% of Route One Investment Company L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Route One Investment Company L.P.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $206,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $332.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $347.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $340.34. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $206.96 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47. 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. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.55.

More Alphabet News

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.