Empirical Finance LLC Lowers Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Empirical Finance LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 221,920 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 12,006 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.2% of Empirical Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $78,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 14.8% in the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 105,988 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,449,000 after acquiring an additional 13,700 shares during the last quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management raised its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 275,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $86,596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 298.2% during the second 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 last quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 340,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $106,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montchanin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $7,075,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet announced a partnership with Morgan State University to establish an AI campus, potentially expanding long-term talent development, research access and adoption of Google Cloud and Gemini. Alphabet Morgan State University AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched a dedicated Gemini app for Windows PCs, making its AI assistant more accessible and increasing the opportunity to drive usage across consumer devices and services. Gemini Windows app
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned €13 billion investment in Finnish AI infrastructure, alongside a long-term agreement to purchase power from a nuclear plant, could provide reliable, lower-cost electricity for data centers and support Gemini, Search, Maps and YouTube. Google Finland AI infrastructure investment
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investment commentary continue to highlight Alphabet’s cloud growth, more than 20% revenue growth and strong recent earnings as evidence that the company can fund substantial AI investment while maintaining attractive profitability. Alphabet return on invested capital and cloud growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest was listed at zero shares, unchanged from the prior report, so the data provide no meaningful evidence of short-covering pressure or growing bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on the cost of Alphabet’s AI buildout. Estimates that AI capital expenditures could reach roughly $200 billion have raised concerns about pressure on free cash flow, even though the stock’s valuation is viewed as reasonable. Alphabet AI capital expenditures
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s new Muse AI agent has renewed concerns that autonomous assistants could bypass traditional search pages and reduce Google search advertising opportunities. ARK Invest’s decision to sell approximately $28 million of Alphabet and buy Meta added to the competitive sentiment. Meta Muse competition
• Negative Sentiment: Potential regulation could increase infrastructure costs: proposed U.S. legislation would require large data-center users to pay the full incremental cost of power-grid upgrades, while Finnish officials have warned that Google’s expansion could strain electricity supply. Data Center Fair Share Act

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $330.39 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $345.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $341.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.21. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $236.58 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 4.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.71, for a total value of $27,692.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,414,801.45. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. KeyCorp set a $445.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.55.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent company of Google. It was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring intended to separate Google’s core internet businesses from a collection of other ventures. Google remains Alphabet’s largest business and serves users, advertisers, businesses and developers worldwide.

Google’s principal products and services include its internet search engine, online advertising platforms, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Photos.