Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,171,781 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 10,165 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.2% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Alphabet worth $2,534,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Alphabet from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Alphabet from $418.00 to $411.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $450.00 price target on 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.55.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6%

GOOG stock opened at $341.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $351.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $339.66. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.46 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market cap of $4.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 4.42%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major investors increased Alphabet holdings. Berkshire Hathaway reportedly added about $17 billion of Alphabet stock in the second quarter, while Stanley Druckenmiller, Seth Klarman, David Tepper, and other prominent investors also initiated or expanded positions. The buying signals confidence in Alphabet’s valuation and long-term AI opportunity. Berkshire Hathaway adds $17 billion to Alphabet stake
• Positive Sentiment: AI and cloud momentum remains a key bullish catalyst. Commentary highlighted Google Cloud’s 82% quarterly growth, a backlog exceeding $514 billion, Gemini’s reported one billion active users, and the potential for externally sold Tensor Processing Units to become a significant revenue stream beginning in 2027. Alphabet external TPU sales likely game changer
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is acquiring Spirit Airlines’ anonymized business data for $10 million. Google plans to use the data for product development and AI-model training; the transaction excludes customer records. The deal is financially small but supports Alphabet’s effort to improve AI systems with proprietary datasets. Google to buy Spirit Airlines business data
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s disclosed SpaceX investment has appreciated substantially. Reports estimate the stake is now worth roughly $94 billion, potentially strengthening investor perceptions of Alphabet’s investment portfolio, although the value is tied to SpaceX’s volatile private-market valuation. Alphabet SpaceX investment gains
• Negative Sentiment: AI infrastructure spending is creating cash-flow and financing concerns. Alphabet plans more than $200 billion in 2026 capital expenditures and is considering a record A$5 billion Australian bond offering to fund expansion. Investors are increasingly focused on whether future AI returns will justify the spending and additional debt. Alphabet Australian bond offering
• Negative Sentiment: Macro and competitive risks are tempering enthusiasm. ECB researchers warned that a sharp AI-stock correction is historically plausible, while some investors argued Alphabet is a materially different—and less attractive—company than it was two years ago. Viking Global also reportedly reduced its Alphabet position. ECB researchers warn of AI selloff

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714. Corporate 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.