5,628 Shares in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Purchased by GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.

GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,628 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,762,000. Alphabet comprises about 0.2% of GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Kentucky Trust Co increased its holdings in Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 160,516 shares of company stock worth $7,344,604 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $368.48 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $367.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.00 and a 12-month high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. New Street Research lifted their price target on Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $435.00 price target (up from $427.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is being viewed as a major AI winner thanks to ongoing investment in AI infrastructure and data centers, which could support future cloud and AI revenue growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Berkshire Hathaway nearly tripled its Alphabet position may be seen as a strong vote of confidence from a major long-term investor. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage emphasizing Alphabet’s strong earnings and expanding Google Cloud backlog supports the case for continued fundamental improvement. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s stock is drawing increased investor attention and analyst commentary, but these are mostly sentiment-driven mentions rather than new company-specific catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Noam Shazeer, a top Google DeepMind/Gemini AI leader, is leaving for OpenAI, underscoring the competitive AI talent war. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: John Jumper is also departing Google DeepMind for Anthropic, adding to concerns that Alphabet may be losing key AI researchers. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo’s recall of nearly 3,900 robotaxis after construction-zone driving errors raises safety and regulatory concerns for Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle business. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The UK ordering Google to improve search-ranking transparency highlights continued regulatory scrutiny over its core search business. Article Title

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.