KBC Group NV Sells 324,260 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• KBC Group NV reduced its Alphabet position by 24.4% in the first quarter, selling 324,260 shares and retaining 1,002,889 shares valued at approximately $288.4 million.
• Institutional ownership remains significant at 40.03%, while analysts are broadly bullish: Alphabet has an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $419.86.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 24% to $119.8 billion and earnings well above estimates, but investors remain concerned about planned capital spending of up to $205 billion and its impact on free cash flow.

KBC Group NV trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 24.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,002,889 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 324,260 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.7% of KBC Group NV's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. KBC Group NV's holdings in Alphabet were worth $288,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,524,841,000 after purchasing 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 valued at $45,625,595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,676 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 3,218,852 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 price target (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets set a $465.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, CICC Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $419.86.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s latest quarter continued to support the long-term growth case: revenue rose 24% to $119.8 billion, Google Cloud growth accelerated to 82%, cloud operating income more than tripled, and its backlog reached $514 billion. Search revenue also grew 17%, easing concerns that AI tools are undermining the core advertising business. Alphabet quarter and valuation analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm is being supported by Alphabet’s potential to commercialize its internally developed AI chips, with initial external revenue reportedly expected by year-end. Analysts and value investors remain constructive; KeyCorp maintains an “Overweight” rating and a $445 target, while Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to “strong buy.” Alphabet AI silicon opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding its Play Signal age-assurance technology worldwide by the end of 2026, potentially strengthening Android’s safety tools and developer ecosystem. Waymo also began restoring freeway service, a sign of progress after earlier operational restrictions. Google age-assurance technology
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst estimates were mixed: KeyCorp raised its full-year 2026 EPS forecast substantially but trimmed quarterly and 2027 estimates slightly, while Erste Group lifted its 2027 forecast. This indicates strong near-term expectations but uncertainty about longer-term spending and profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: The main pressure remains Alphabet’s planned $195 billion–$205 billion of 2026 capital spending. Quarterly capital expenditures reached $44.9 billion and free cash flow turned negative, prompting investors to question whether AI infrastructure returns will justify the investment. Alphabet AI spending concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Additional risks include renewed fears that lower-cost AI models could pressure technology valuations, potential European private damages claims following Google’s $1 billion fine, and reports of a DeepMind research-team restructuring. Recent insider and major-shareholder sales are also a modest sentiment headwind, although they do not necessarily signal deteriorating fundamentals. Google European damages risk

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm's 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 owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 600,465 shares of company stock valued at $16,228,202. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9%

GOOGL stock opened at $336.71 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.82 and a 52 week high of $408.61. The company has a market capitalization of $4.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.24. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $359.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $339.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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