BNP Paribas Sells 39,762 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• BNP Paribas reduced its Alphabet position by 13.7% in the second quarter, selling 39,762 shares and retaining 251,031 shares worth approximately $88.9 million.
• Wall Street remains bullish on Alphabet, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $420.19. The company also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $9.11 in EPS and $119.8 billion in revenue.
• Alphabet is expanding aggressively in AI infrastructure, including a planned $15 billion investment in Finland and a long-term nuclear power agreement, although investors remain concerned about high AI spending, energy constraints and potential disruption to search advertising.

BNP Paribas cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 13.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 251,031 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 39,762 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 2.4% of BNP Paribas' portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. BNP Paribas' holdings in Alphabet were worth $88,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $45,625,595,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $21,630,861,000 after acquiring an additional 3,218,852 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial set a $420.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. KeyCorp upped their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $395.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $420.19.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $332.60 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $235.84 and a one year high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. The stock's 50-day moving average is $347.18 and its 200 day moving average is $343.69. The firm has a market cap of $4.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google announced plans to invest at least €13 billion (about $15 billion) in AI infrastructure and data centers in Finland over the next two years. The investment should expand capacity for Gemini, Search, Maps and YouTube while positioning Finland as a strategic, cooler-cost data-center hub. Google to invest $15 billion AI infrastructure in Finland
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet agreed to purchase a large share of a Finnish nuclear plant’s output through 2049. The long-term contract could make electricity costs more predictable and strengthen Google’s ability to power energy-intensive AI operations. Google nuclear power agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture and Google Cloud are creating a group with 1,000 engineers to help customers deploy AI agents. The arrangement could accelerate enterprise adoption of Google Cloud and support future cloud revenue growth. Accenture and Google AI partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain constructive on Alphabet’s AI, cloud and quantum-computing exposure. Recent coverage also points to strong prior earnings and valuation support after the stock pulled back from its highs. Hyperscalers bet on AI and quantum
• Neutral Sentiment: Google introduced an easier Android password-manager migration process and agreed to buy one million rice-methane carbon credits from India’s Mitti Labs. These moves may support ecosystem engagement and sustainability goals but are unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Google Android password manager update
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavy AI infrastructure spending will pressure free cash flow and returns on invested capital, despite strong Google Cloud growth. Alphabet ROIC and AI capital spending
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s new paid AI agent, Muse, raised concerns that autonomous agents could bypass traditional search pages and reduce search advertising opportunities. Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest also reduced its Alphabet position while buying Meta shares, adding a negative sentiment signal. Meta Muse AI agent and Alphabet shares
• Negative Sentiment: Finnish opposition parties warned that Google’s expansion could strain local power supplies and raise energy prices, creating potential permitting and execution risks for the planned data-center buildout. Finland power-supply concerns

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology and holding company founded in 2015 through a restructuring of Google. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and operates globally, serving consumers, businesses, advertisers and developers across numerous countries and regions.

Alphabet's largest business is Google Services, which includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and hardware products such as Pixel devices. These products support activities including internet search, digital content distribution, mobile computing, online communications and advertising.

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