Align Financial LLC Acquires New Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Align Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 1,117,097 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $349,651,000. Alphabet accounts for about 1.6% of Align Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google Cloud is gaining momentum, with HSBC announcing a multi-year partnership to expand its AI usage on Google Cloud, and another AI startup, Ineffable Intelligence, choosing Google Cloud as its preferred infrastructure partner. These deals reinforce Alphabet’s position in enterprise AI and cloud growth. HSBC partners with Google Cloud to expand AI usage
• Positive Sentiment: Google also unveiled a new Gemini-powered Google Home Speaker and broader Android 17/Gemini updates, highlighting continued product rollout across consumer devices and AI features that could support ecosystem engagement over time. Google bets on Gemini to reinvent the smart home speaker
• Positive Sentiment: At the G7, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis joined other AI leaders in calling for a U.S.-led AI coalition, underscoring Alphabet’s influence in shaping the AI industry and keeping Google front and center in policy discussions. CEOs of Anthropic and Google DeepMind call for U.S.-led AI coalition in meeting at G7
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentary pieces remain mixed, with some still bullish on Alphabet’s AI and cloud growth while others warn that heavy capital spending, competition, and a stretched valuation could limit upside near term. Alphabet Drops 6% in a Month: Buy, Sell, or Hold the GOOGL Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet faces fresh regulatory pressure in the U.K., where the competition watchdog set conduct requirements for Google Search to increase fairness and transparency in ranking results. That adds to worries about search monetization and long-term control over its core business. UK regulator sets out conduct requirements for Google’s search services

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,923,235.59. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,466 shares of company stock valued at $6,957,543. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Alphabet from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $363.79 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $364.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $331.35. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.00 and a 12-month high of $408.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 6.71%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.