Soroban Capital Partners LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Soroban Capital Partners LP trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 40.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,131,498 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,444,082 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.2% of Soroban Capital Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Soroban Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $611,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 285,049 shares of company stock valued at $10,051,351 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Freedom Capital raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $445.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $410.09.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals are supporting the rebound. Alphabet’s latest quarter featured 24.2% revenue growth, an EPS beat, and an 82% year-over-year increase in Google Cloud revenue. Analysts and investors argue that AI adoption, Search resilience, YouTube growth, and improving cloud profitability can eventually justify the company’s large infrastructure investments. Alphabet: Buy The Capex-Caused Decline
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and institutional backing remains constructive. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to “strong buy,” while KeyCorp modestly raised its FY2028 EPS estimate. Asset Management One also added approximately 117,000 GOOGL shares, signaling continued institutional confidence despite recent volatility. Alphabet upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: YouTube expanded its monetization ecosystem. A multiyear agreement will bring Peacock content, including sports and entertainment programming, to YouTube Premium subscribers in the United States, potentially strengthening engagement and subscription value. YouTube and Peacock deal
• Neutral Sentiment: AI remains both the growth engine and the central debate. More than 1,100 technology employees urged governments to establish stronger AI-safety rules. The issue could increase compliance costs, but coordinated regulation may also benefit large, well-funded platforms such as Google over smaller competitors. AI safety plan
• Negative Sentiment: Capital-spending concerns continue to cap enthusiasm. Alphabet’s roughly $195 billion–$205 billion 2026 capex forecast has pushed free cash flow negative and raised questions about returns on AI infrastructure. Investors are looking for evidence that Cloud growth and AI monetization will outpace the spending burden.
• Negative Sentiment: European legal risks are escalating. Following a $1 billion Digital Markets Act fine, rivals could pursue as much as $10 billion in private damages claims, creating potential financial and operational pressure on Google’s European business. Google European damages claims

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $332.60 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $188.70 and a fifty-two week high of $404.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $358.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $337.68. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. 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 firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.