Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 748,823 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group reduced its Alphabet position by 6.7% in the second quarter, selling 748,823 shares and retaining 10.36 million shares worth approximately $3.7 billion.
• Institutional ownership remains significant, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 40.03% of Alphabet’s stock; several major investors, including Vanguard and Capital World Investors, increased their positions.
• Analysts maintain a bullish outlook, with Alphabet receiving an overall “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $420.19. The company also recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,361,802 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 748,823 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.8% of Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Alphabet worth $3,703,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,534,239,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 855.3% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,546,413,000 after acquiring an additional 13,004,828 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Alphabet by 28.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,910,542,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 28,950.0% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,291,926 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,671,986,000 after acquiring an additional 9,259,940 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Truist Financial set a $420.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $390.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $420.19.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $344.82 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.30 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $352.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $341.35.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 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 dividend of $0.22 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 82 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.39, for a total value of $27,337.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,305,738.46. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 75,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 451,945 shares of company stock worth $12,382,714 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt upgraded Alphabet to “strong buy” and reiterated a $410 price target, implying substantial upside and reinforcing the bullish view following Alphabet’s strong earnings report. Alphabet upgraded by Rosenblatt Securities
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI spending continues to attract major customers and suppliers. Marvell’s custom-chip agreement includes a warrant structure that would require up to $120 billion of cumulative purchases from Google for full vesting, signaling the potentially enormous scale of Alphabet’s TPU and AI infrastructure buildout. Google’s Marvell warrant
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo received approval to operate up to thousands of commercial robotaxis in Nevada and opened its lower-cost next-generation vehicle to riders in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco. Lower production and operating costs could improve the long-term economics of Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit. Waymo Nevada robotaxi approval
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s earnings momentum remains a support for the stock. The company recently exceeded consensus estimates for both adjusted earnings and revenue, while analysts and prominent investors—including Berkshire Hathaway—continue to highlight Alphabet’s AI positioning and valuation.

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.

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