Align Financial LLC Invests $349.65 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Align Financial LLC opened a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter, buying 1,117,097 shares valued at about $349.7 million. Alphabet now represents roughly 1.6% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 16th-largest holding.
• Alphabet continues to attract major institutional interest, with firms like Berkshire Hathaway and CIBC Bancorp USA also adding to or initiating positions. Overall, institutional investors own 40.03% of the stock.
• The article also highlights mixed signals for Alphabet: the company beat earnings expectations and recently raised its dividend, but it faces fresh regulatory pressure in the U.K. and some insider selling over the past three months.

Align Financial LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,117,097 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $349,651,000. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.6% of Align Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $416,217,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $277,696,000 after buying an additional 93,293 shares in the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,902,000. Private Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,717 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,736,000 after buying an additional 2,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,338,397,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 159,466 shares of company stock worth $6,957,543. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $363.79 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.00 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $364.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $331.35. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.23. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS 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 represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.71%.

Key Alphabet News

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, April 20th. Arete Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Evercore boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $413.13.

About Alphabet

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.

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