Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys 1,920 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 209,188 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,920 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $73,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 76.2% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,865,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $330,886,000 after buying an additional 806,681 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $658,000. Financial Advisors Network Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 7,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.7% during the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $343.34 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $349.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $339.79. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $206.39 and a 12-month 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. The firm has a market cap of $4.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given 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 presently 4.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $445.00 target price on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. KeyCorp set a $445.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Freedom Capital upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.55.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Enterprise AI expansion: Google launched Gemini Enterprise solutions for financial-services companies and law firms, including specialized agents, workflow tools, data connectors and third-party integrations. The products could support Google Cloud growth and deepen Alphabet’s competition with Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic in high-value enterprise markets. Google expands Gemini AI platform for law firms and lawyers
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo moves into Europe: Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit will begin testing vehicles in Munich and plans to launch commercial driverless rides in Germany in 2027. Germany would be Waymo’s first European market and its third international market, expanding a potential long-term growth business. Waymo to launch driverless rides in Germany in 2027
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure optimism: Reports that Google’s TPU shipments could nearly triple to 8.8 million by 2027 reinforce expectations that Alphabet can reduce reliance on Nvidia and potentially expand Google Cloud’s AI capacity and margins. Analysts and investment commentary also highlighted strong Cloud growth, improving profitability and continued Search and YouTube momentum. Google TPU volume could triple to 8.8 million by 2027
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed market signals: U.S. consumer-confidence and new-home-sales misses pressured the broader market, while reports of billionaire and institutional interest in Alphabet provided a counterweight. A reported increase in short interest was not meaningful because the filing showed zero shares in both periods.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor investigation: Pomerantz LLP said it is investigating potential claims on behalf of Alphabet investors. The notice provided no substantive allegations, but securities-law investigations can add headline and litigation risk. Pomerantz investor alert
• Negative Sentiment: Capital-allocation concerns: Commentary flagged potentially negative free cash flow as Alphabet spends heavily on AI infrastructure. Separately, Virginia Retirement Systems reportedly reduced its GOOGL position by about 33%, an isolated institutional-selling signal that may weigh on sentiment.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.