Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Acquired by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 170.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,202,207 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 757,847 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $427,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 850.3% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,551,938,000 after purchasing an additional 15,830,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $132,114,125,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1%

GOOG opened at $343.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $197.46 and a one year high of $404.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $352.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $339.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its 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 return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. 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 presently 4.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. Roth Capital raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $460.00 price target on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, 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 transaction 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 trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.