Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Stock Position Lifted by Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,387 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,574 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.2% of Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 179,369,280 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in Alphabet by 850.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,551,938,000 after purchasing an additional 15,830,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research set a $460.00 target price on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler restated 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. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 target price (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $415.55.

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 Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $343.54 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $352.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $339.62. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.46 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders 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 is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.42%.

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.