Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by Empirical Asset Management LLC

Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 38.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,815 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,149 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.2% of Empirical Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% in the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $85,557,000 after buying an additional 48,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A federal judge rejected the U.S. government’s request to force Google to sell its AdX advertising exchange, removing the immediate risk of a disruptive breakup. The ruling still requires Google to change certain ad-tech practices, but the decision preserves the structure of a highly profitable business. Google defeats US bid to force ad-tech sale
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway increased its Alphabet position by roughly $10 billion, with CEO Greg Abel describing Google as a significant AI player. The investment provides a high-profile vote of confidence in Alphabet’s AI capabilities and long-term growth prospects. Berkshire CEO comments on Alphabet AI investment
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is securing additional power for its expanding AI infrastructure. Google agreed to purchase approximately 400 megawatts of geothermal electricity from Fervo Energy for a Utah data center, while Eos Energy announced a battery-storage partnership tied to a planned $350 million West Virginia project. These agreements support data-center capacity growth and energy reliability. Google buys geothermal power from Fervo
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expanded paid robotaxi service to Denver, San Diego and Tampa, bringing its operations to 14 U.S. cities. The rollout offers Alphabet investors evidence of increasing commercialization outside the core advertising business. Waymo expands robotaxi service
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports indicate Google may release Gemini 3.8 Flash this week, with internal testing showing improved coding performance. A stronger model could support Cloud and Workspace monetization, although the financial impact remains unproven. New Google AI model report
• Negative Sentiment: The antitrust ruling was not a complete victory: Google must implement undisclosed operational changes intended to address illegal practices and pressure on publisher ad rates. Regulatory scrutiny therefore remains a continuing risk to ad-tech economics. Federal judge declines to break up Google ad technology business
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to weigh Alphabet’s heavy AI infrastructure spending against uncertain returns. Competition from OpenAI and other AI providers, along with reported talent losses, could pressure Google Search and increase the cost of defending its market position. OpenAI advertising competition report

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sold 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544 in the last 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Truist Financial set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $337.12 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.79 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $349.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $342.38. 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 $4.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.