TCW Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

TCW Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,679,653 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,110 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 4.0% of TCW Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $593,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management grew its position in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 275,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $86,596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 298.2% during the 2nd quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,854,000 after purchasing an additional 16,647 shares during the period. Violich Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during 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 buying an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Montchanin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $7,075,000. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 13.3% in the second quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,489 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,773,000 after buying an additional 3,575 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway significantly increased its Alphabet position. Berkshire owned approximately 106 million shares worth $37.9 billion at the end of June after raising its stake by 83% during the second quarter. Alphabet is now Berkshire’s third-largest U.S.-listed equity holding, a notable vote of confidence under CEO Greg Abel. Berkshire Hathaway boosts Alphabet to a top three holding
• Positive Sentiment: Digital advertising estimates improved. July advertiser spending exceeded consensus expectations, supporting the outlook for Alphabet’s core advertising business. Alphabet also launched Gemini 3.7 Flash for coding and automated business workflows, potentially expanding monetization opportunities in enterprise AI. Internet stock advertising estimate revisions
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s SpaceX investment has become a major unrealized asset. The company disclosed that its roughly $900 million investment in SpaceX is now worth about $94 billion, highlighting the value of Alphabet’s venture portfolio, although the gain does not directly represent operating revenue or cash flow. Alphabet’s SpaceX bet grows 100-fold
• Positive Sentiment: Other institutions also added exposure. UniSuper increased its GOOG and GOOGL holdings, while several major funds reported purchases, reinforcing the perception that Alphabet remains attractively valued after its recent pullback.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google expanded Gemini access in schools and introduced tools allowing users to remove visible watermarks from AI-generated content while retaining invisible SynthID protections. These moves could improve adoption but have uncertain near-term financial effects. Google turns on Gemini AI for students
• Negative Sentiment: Gemini lost chatbot-visit share to ChatGPT in July. Although Gemini surpassed one billion monthly active users, its share of chatbot visits fell to 28.8%, raising concerns about competitive momentum in consumer AI.
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment is pressuring cash flow. Analysts continue to flag Alphabet’s very high data-center and chip spending, with some estimates showing weaker free-cash-flow generation than Microsoft and Meta in 2027.
• Negative Sentiment: Several funds reduced Alphabet positions. Barclays, Franklin Resources, Magellan and other managers reported trimming GOOG or GOOGL holdings, partially offsetting Berkshire’s large purchase. Alphabet also faces reputational risk from a reported Google-ad phishing scam and a law-firm investigation of investor claims.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. HSBC set a $515.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Friday. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $343.54 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $352.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $339.62. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $197.46 and a 52-week high of $404.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.42%.

Alphabet Company 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.