Van ECK Associates Corp Buys New Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,458,288 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $123,652,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $86,596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 298.2% during the 2nd quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,854,000 after purchasing an additional 16,647 shares during the period. Violich Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 340,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $106,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Montchanin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $7,075,000. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,489 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,773,000 after buying an additional 3,575 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A federal judge rejected the U.S. Justice Department’s request to force Google to sell its AdX advertising exchange. The ruling removes the most severe breakup risk, although Google must make operational changes to address antitrust concerns. This was the clearest immediate catalyst for Alphabet’s strength. Google defeats US bid to force ad tech sale
• Positive Sentiment: Google launched or prepared to launch Gemini 3.8 Flash, a model designed to improve coding and cybersecurity capabilities. Investors view the release as evidence that Alphabet is narrowing the gap with OpenAI and Anthropic in enterprise AI. Google launches Gemini 3.8 Flash
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reports continue to highlight strong AI demand, cloud revenue growth and expanding infrastructure investment. Alphabet’s latest reported quarter showed 24.2% year-over-year revenue growth and a substantial earnings beat, supporting the view that Cloud and AI can offset pressure on the core advertising business. Alphabet reports strong growth fueled by AI demand and cloud revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel described Alphabet as a significant AI player and explained Berkshire’s decision to make it one of its largest holdings. The endorsement may strengthen investor confidence in Alphabet’s long-term AI strategy. Berkshire CEO discusses Alphabet stake
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet agreed to purchase roughly 396 megawatts of enhanced-geothermal power from Fervo Energy for a planned Utah data center, with potential expansion toward 1 gigawatt. The agreement supports reliable, lower-carbon electricity for AI infrastructure. Google buys geothermal power from Fervo
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo expanded paid robotaxi service to Denver, San Diego and Tampa, bringing operations to 14 U.S. cities. The move offers longer-term optionality but is unlikely to materially affect near-term Alphabet earnings. Waymo expands robotaxi service
• Negative Sentiment: The antitrust ruling still found illegal conduct and requires changes to Google’s digital advertising operations, leaving potential compliance costs and future regulatory risk. Judge orders changes to Google ad business
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and technical commentators warn that GOOG is approaching bear-market territory and testing important support near $323. Concerns about elevated AI capital spending, margin pressure and increasingly intense competition in search advertising could limit further gains.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total value of $2,232,808.20. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $445.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $420.00 price objective (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $418.00 to $411.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $415.55.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $333.78 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $225.12 and a 1 year high of $404.47. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average of $347.01 and a 200 day moving average of $340.52. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 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 business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

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.