Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Purchased by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 399,284 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,297 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $141,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 8,128,234 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 369,922,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $130,704,718,000 after purchasing an additional 5,164,200 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $58,712,878,000 after purchasing an additional 953,790 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI products are broadening Alphabet’s growth story. Google is expanding AI Mode with flight-price tracking, hotel-booking assistance and loyalty-point comparisons, while Gemini’s new “Personal Intelligence” features are making AI assistance more accessible to mainstream users. A potential Gemini 3.8 Flash release and the hiring of former OpenAI executive Barret Zoph further reinforce Alphabet’s competitive AI position. Google AI Mode article
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud momentum and AI infrastructure remain key bullish catalysts. Analysts point to surging Google Cloud revenue, AI adoption and a reported $514 billion backlog as evidence that Alphabet is gaining ground on Microsoft and Amazon. Wolfe Research named Alphabet a top 2027 pick and set a $460 target, citing accelerating cloud growth. Alphabet’s expanded custom-chip relationship with Marvell could also strengthen its TPU ecosystem and reduce reliance on outside suppliers over time. Google Cloud growth article
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical and valuation commentary is broadly supportive but not a new fundamental catalyst. Analysts continue to view GOOG favorably, and technical analysis identifies support near a key moving-average level. However, the stock remains below its 50-day average, suggesting investors are still weighing growth against execution risks. Alphabet technical analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and litigation overhangs persist. Google changed its European spam-policy enforcement to avoid a potential antitrust fine, a concession that may reduce near-term financial risk but could constrain search operations. Alphabet also agreed to a roughly $353 million UK Play Store settlement, while the FTC is reportedly considering a lawsuit over YouTube account suspensions. Multiple law firms separately announced securities-fraud investigations, though these notices do not establish wrongdoing. Google EU spam policy article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain alert to the cost of the AI race. Reports that major technology companies have approximately $3 trillion in off-balance-sheet AI commitments, alongside Alphabet’s heavy capital spending and negative free cash flow concerns, could pressure future returns if AI monetization lags investment. Big Tech AI spending article

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp set a $445.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $342.88 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $206.96 and a one year high of $404.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $347.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $339.97. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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 value of $149,606.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total value of $2,232,808.20. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 451,843 shares of company stock valued at $12,343,852 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.