XP Advisory US Inc. Makes New $2.25 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

XP Advisory US Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,357 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,246,000. Alphabet comprises about 1.2% of XP Advisory US Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $58,712,878,000 after purchasing an additional 953,790 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,569,189,000 after buying an additional 1,073,151 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wedbush began coverage on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $445.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Six investment 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 MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $415.55.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $335.38 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $346.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $341.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.21. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $233.38 and a 1-year high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Stable search traffic eases competitive concerns. Bank of America reportedly found no meaningful deterioration in Google’s web-traffic data, helping counter fears that AI search tools are taking share from Alphabet’s core search business. Bank of America Spots Reassuring Signal for Google Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud and AI commercialization continue to expand. Google Cloud and Accenture are forming a unit with 1,000 engineers to help enterprises deploy Google’s AI products. Alphabet is also reportedly selling TPU systems directly to customers, potentially creating a new hardware revenue stream, while Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian claimed the company’s AI-chip business is more than twice the size of its closest rival. Google Cloud and Accenture AI Unit
• Positive Sentiment: Energy and infrastructure access may support AI expansion. A $1.9 billion U.S. Energy Department loan to NextEra Energy will help revive an Iowa nuclear plant intended to supply power for Google, potentially improving Alphabet’s long-term access to reliable electricity for data centers. Google’s Revived Nuclear Power Plant Loan
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors remain divided over valuation and capital spending. Analysts and commentators view GOOG as attractively valued relative to cloud growth, but Alphabet’s massive AI-related capital expenditures are pressuring near-term free cash flow and contributing to volatility.
• Negative Sentiment: Project Braid data-center delays raise execution concerns. Alphabet and Blackstone’s AI-cloud venture reportedly faces delays at major data-center sites, highlighting the permitting, construction and power challenges slowing the broader AI buildout. Google and Blackstone Venture Faces Delays
• Negative Sentiment: EU search changes could hurt user experience and business economics. Google says modifications required under the Digital Markets Act will reduce search quality, favor intermediaries over local businesses and increase costs, while exposing Alphabet to continuing regulatory pressure. Google Warns of Lower-Quality European Search Results

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent company of Google. It was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring intended to separate Google’s core internet businesses from a collection of other ventures. Google remains Alphabet’s largest business and serves users, advertisers, businesses and developers worldwide.

Google’s principal products and services include its internet search engine, online advertising platforms, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Photos.