Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 629,555 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,235,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 629,555 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.2% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Alphabet worth $2,554,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in Alphabet by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Wolfe Research set a $460.00 price target on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $450.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $379.00 target price (down from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.55.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.0%

Alphabet stock opened at $341.75 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $350.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $339.73. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $202.13 and a 12 month high of $404.47. The stock has a market cap of $4.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given 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 (DPR) is 4.42%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure expansion: Alphabet’s expanded custom-silicon relationship with Marvell covers components connected to Google’s TPU ecosystem, including inference accelerators, networking, storage, and memory products. The agreement gives Alphabet more supply-chain flexibility and supports continued AI capacity growth, although it may increase dependence on multiple chip partners. Jensen Huang Thinks This Chip Stock Could Hit $1 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo growth: Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit received approval to operate thousands of robotaxis in Nevada and has expanded its lower-cost next-generation vehicles to riders in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco. Waymo also introduced a custom AI chip designed to reduce reliance on Nvidia and AMD, potentially improving long-term economics. Robotaxi Permits in Nevada
• Positive Sentiment: Investor and analyst support: Berkshire Hathaway significantly increased its Alphabet position, reinforcing the view that the company fits a value-oriented investment strategy. Rosenblatt initiated coverage with a “Buy” rating, while analysts continue to point to resilient Search, fast-growing Cloud, and strong earnings momentum. Berkshire’s Alphabet Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: DeepMind leadership transition: Nobel Prize-winning co-founder Demis Hassabis is moving from day-to-day management to chairman and chief scientist roles, while Koray Kavukcuoglu will oversee operations. The change could improve Alphabet-wide AI coordination, but investors may monitor execution and retention risks. DeepMind Leadership Change
• Negative Sentiment: Firebase enforcement risk: Indian authorities directed Google to remove hundreds of Firebase accounts allegedly used in bank impersonation scams. The action could increase compliance costs and renew concerns about misuse of Alphabet’s platforms. India Orders Removal of Firebase Accounts

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.