Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 154,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,395 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.4% of Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $54,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Carrera Capital Advisors increased its position in Alphabet by 45.4% in the second quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 1,409 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 7,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,692,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Fire Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 137.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fire Capital Management LLC now owns 8,648 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,056,000 after buying an additional 5,004 shares in the last quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,842 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after buying an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, One Degree Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. One Degree Advisors Inc now owns 4,470 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,599,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Alphabet from $460.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total value of $3,832,277.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

More Alphabet News

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.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $343.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. The company has a market cap of $4.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.46 and a 1 year high of $404.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $352.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $339.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors 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 dividend 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 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.