Ally Financial Inc. Sells 20,500 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Ally Financial cut its Alphabet stake by 49.4% in the second quarter, selling 20,500 shares and retaining 21,000 shares valued at approximately $7.5 million. Alphabet now represents 1.0% of Ally’s portfolio.
• Institutional ownership remains significant at 40.03%, while insiders have sold 451,925 shares worth $12.4 million over the past three months.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with Alphabet receiving a consensus “Buy” rating and a $420.19 price target. The company also reported quarterly revenue of $119.8 billion, exceeding expectations, and declared a $0.22 quarterly dividend.

Ally Financial Inc. trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 20,500 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.0% of Ally Financial Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Ally Financial Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY raised its position in Alphabet by 17.6% in the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 11.2% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $85,557,000 after acquiring an additional 48,805 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,495,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google expanded its partnership with Cathay Pacific to test AI designed to reduce aircraft contrail warming. Early real-world testing reportedly cut contrail-related warming by 40%, highlighting potential environmental applications for Google’s AI technology. Cathay Pacific, Google expand AI trials to cut climate-warming aircraft contrails
• Positive Sentiment: Pixxel, an Indian satellite startup backed by Google, raised $100 million in new funding. The deal strengthens Alphabet’s exposure to Earth observation, space software and sovereign space systems, although the financial effect on Alphabet itself is likely limited. Google-backed Indian space startup raises $100 million in latest funding round
• Positive Sentiment: Several investment articles argue Alphabet is underappreciated within the “Magnificent Seven,” citing its search and cloud cash flows, AI opportunities and a valuation viewed as reasonable relative to growth. Berkshire Hathaway’s continued Alphabet purchases also provide a prominent vote of confidence.
• Neutral Sentiment: Warren Buffett reportedly initiated Berkshire’s Alphabet investment, while Greg Abel is expected to maintain significant influence over the portfolio. The development is sentiment-positive but does not change Alphabet’s operating outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s partnerships with AI companies, including CrowdStrike, reinforce its role in enterprise AI and cybersecurity, but the commercial impact remains uncertain. CrowdStrike unveiled a broad AI security platform push
• Negative Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s fund fully exited Alphabet in the second quarter and bought Netflix instead, citing concern that aggressive AI infrastructure spending could pressure profitability and increase volatility.
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary warns that rising AI capital expenditures are reducing returns on capital and could challenge Alphabet’s traditionally strong financial profile.
• Negative Sentiment: A law firm announced a securities-fraud investigation seeking Alphabet investors, but the announcement provides no finding of wrongdoing and appears primarily to solicit shareholders.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the sale, 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $395.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Pivotal Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 price target (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $420.19.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $338.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $348.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $343.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.90 and a 12-month high of $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $117.07 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 4.42%.

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.

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