KBC Group NV Sells 259,696 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• KBC Group NV trimmed its stake in Alphabet by 16.4% in Q4, selling 259,696 shares and leaving it with 1,327,149 shares worth about $415.4 million (Alphabet is KBC's 15th-largest holding).
• Alphabet beat Q1 expectations with EPS of $5.11 vs. $2.64 and revenue of $109.9B, driven by ~63% year-over-year Google Cloud growth and AI momentum, prompting analyst price‑target raises and a "Moderate Buy" consensus.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently—191,884 shares worth roughly $59.1 million were sold in the past three months, while corporate insiders still own about 11.64% of the company.

KBC Group NV lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,327,149 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 259,696 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.0% of KBC Group NV's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. KBC Group NV's holdings in Alphabet were worth $415,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,915 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,940 shares during the last quarter. Adelphi Trust Co acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,617,000. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 10,733 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,548,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 87,030 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $27,240,000 after buying an additional 12,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 129.8% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 42,780 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,390,000 after acquiring an additional 24,167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blowout Q1 — EPS and revenue materially beat expectations, with Google Cloud reporting very strong growth that convinced investors the company’s AI investments are driving near‑term monetization. GOOGL Q1 Earnings Beat (Zacks)
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud / AI momentum — Google Cloud grew ~63% y/y, AI product revenues surged and management cited a multi‑hundred‑billion backlog, supporting upside to future revenue and margins. Cloud Growth & Backlog (Zacks)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades — A wave of price‑target increases and buy/overweight reiterations (Goldman, JPMorgan, Canaccord, Citi, etc.) followed the quarter, adding institutional endorsement and likely supporting further buying. Price Target Raises (MarketScreener)
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder return signal — Alphabet announced a modestly higher quarterly dividend (up from $0.21 to $0.22), marking a small but visible move toward returning cash to investors.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/monetization rollouts — Gemini is being integrated into millions of cars (upgrade from Assistant), and Waymo continues geographic expansion and commercial rides — both expand long‑term monetization pathways but have longer ROI timelines. Gemini in Cars (TechCrunch) Waymo Growth (Business Insider)
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusual options activity — Heavy call buying today suggests bullish positioning or hedged directional bets; this amplifies intraday volatility but not fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx concerns — Multiple write‑ups flagged rapid, ongoing AI/data‑center spend; some investors worry heavy capex could pressure near‑term margins despite revenue gains. CapEx Concerns (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and governance risks — European scrutiny (Italy) and shareholder pushes for cloud/AI safeguards create political/regulatory overhang that could affect product deployments or compliance costs. Italy Asks EU Probe (Reuters)

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Arete Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group set a $410.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Alphabet from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $390.65.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.99, for a total transaction of $33,934.88. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,580,469.82. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,187,638.65. This trade represents a 22.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 191,884 shares of company stock worth $59,121,365. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 10.0%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $384.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.65 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The business's fifty day moving average price is $313.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $307.81. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $147.84 and a 52 week high of $385.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released 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 41.25% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 11.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

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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