Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Position Decreased by Bank of America Corp DE

Key Points

• Bank of America reduced its Alphabet stake by 0.5% in the first quarter, selling 339,468 shares but retaining 68.8 million shares worth approximately $19.8 billion. Alphabet remains BofA’s seventh-largest holding.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with $9.11 in earnings per share versus the $2.89 consensus estimate and revenue of $119.8 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive view, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $419.86, though some firms recently lowered their targets amid scrutiny of Alphabet’s heavy AI spending and related debt financing.

Bank of America Corp DE lessened its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,768,715 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 339,468 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.4% of Bank of America Corp DE's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.57% of Alphabet worth $19,775,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $277,696,000 after purchasing an additional 93,293 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $25,679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269 shares in the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $28,902,000. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 118,966 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,236,000 after buying an additional 17,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 17,632 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,519,000 after buying an additional 4,048 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $357.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $356.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $340.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $194.33 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The transaction 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 stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 600,547 shares of company stock valued at $16,255,540. 11.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is seeking up to $25 billion through a 10-part U.S. bond offering, with reports indicating orders could exceed $115 billion. The strong demand suggests investors and lenders remain confident in Alphabet’s credit profile, while the funds will support AI data centers, computing capacity and other corporate needs. Alphabet seeks up to $25 billion from its latest bond sale
• Positive Sentiment: AI demand continues to create growth opportunities for Google Cloud. AI lab Mirendil signed a multiyear agreement worth more than $100 million for Google Cloud computing capacity, reinforcing demand for Alphabet’s infrastructure and services. Mirendil signs Google Cloud deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Demis Hassabis is moving from day-to-day leadership of Google DeepMind to become Alphabet’s chief scientist and chair of DeepMind, with a focus on long-term research, artificial general intelligence and Isomorphic Labs. Management says the change is intended to improve coordination between research and commercialization. Demis Hassabis new role
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Hassabis’ reduced operating role, combined with the departure of longtime chief scientist Jeff Dean and other senior researchers, could weaken Alphabet’s ability to retain talent and compete in frontier AI. The leadership changes followed concerns about delays in Google’s next-generation Gemini products. Google AI leadership departures
• Negative Sentiment: The debt offering highlights the scale of Alphabet’s AI spending. Although borrowing can preserve cash for operations, it increases interest obligations and intensifies scrutiny over whether future AI revenue will justify the substantial capital investment. Alphabet bond offering and AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s planned $15 billion India data-center project faces opposition over potential effects on water supplies and wildlife, creating possible permitting, reputational and construction risks. Google India data center environmental concerns

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Pivotal Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 price objective (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $379.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $395.00 target price (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $419.86.

Alphabet Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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