Lakewood Capital Management LP Acquires 3,000 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Lakewood Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 60,580 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Lakewood Capital Management LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total value of $2,232,808.20. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 target price (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Freedom Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price objective (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $420.19.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google announced plans to invest at least €13 billion ($15 billion) in Finnish data centers and AI infrastructure over the next two years—its largest-ever European investment. The facilities are expected to support Gemini, Search, Maps and YouTube, while a power agreement with Fortum, including nuclear energy, may help address AI’s substantial electricity needs. Google to invest $15 billion AI infrastructure in Finland
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud and Accenture launched a joint unit deploying 1,000 engineers to help companies implement AI agents. The initiative could accelerate enterprise adoption of Google’s cloud and AI services and improve monetization of Alphabet’s infrastructure spending. Google Cloud and Accenture AI deployment deal
• Positive Sentiment: Co-founder Sergey Brin is taking a more active role in advancing Gemini, signaling increased founder involvement as Alphabet seeks to strengthen its position in the AI race. Sergey Brin takes bigger role in Google AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts continue to cite Alphabet’s strong return on invested capital, balance sheet and rapidly growing Google Cloud business as long-term strengths. However, the stock’s valuation is being assessed alongside its expanding AI infrastructure commitments.
• Negative Sentiment: The scale of the Finland and broader AI buildout increases capital expenditures and is pressuring free cash flow, creating uncertainty about when the investments will generate sufficient returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s launch of the paid Muse AI agent raised concerns that autonomous assistants could bypass traditional search results, weakening Alphabet’s search advertising model. Higher Treasury yields are also weighing on high-multiple technology stocks. Meta Muse AI agent pressures Alphabet
• Negative Sentiment: Google warned that EU-mandated changes to its European search results could reduce search quality, increase costs for businesses and potentially affect user engagement. Google warns of lower-quality European search results

Alphabet Trading Down 2.3%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $330.65 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $347.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $343.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $235.84 and a 12 month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 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 given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.42%.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology and holding company founded in 2015 through a restructuring of Google. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and operates globally, serving consumers, businesses, advertisers and developers across numerous countries and regions.

Alphabet’s largest business is Google Services, which includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and hardware products such as Pixel devices. These products support activities including internet search, digital content distribution, mobile computing, online communications and advertising.