Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is First Trust Advisors LP’s 5th Largest Position

First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,897,499 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 46,504 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.0% of First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,408,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co increased its holdings in Alphabet by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 600,547 shares of company stock worth $16,255,540. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 6.7%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $356.13 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.82 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $357.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $339.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Dbs Bank upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $390.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $419.86.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s custom Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) are increasingly viewed as credible alternatives to Nvidia chips. That could reduce Google’s dependence on external suppliers and create a potential external chip-revenue opportunity. Alphabet and Amazon custom AI chips
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlights Alphabet’s record quarter, strong Google Cloud growth, Gemini adoption and enterprise AI demand. Analysts and value-focused investors continue to view GOOGL as comparatively inexpensive among large technology and AI companies. Alphabet AI investment and valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly supporting a $15 billion Anthropic data-center project with chips and financial guarantees, while Oracle is expanding its partnership to bring Gemini models to enterprise applications. These initiatives could drive Google Cloud demand and strengthen Alphabet’s AI ecosystem. Anthropic data center backed by Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s reported quarterly earnings and revenue beat consensus estimates by wide margins, supporting the fundamental case, although investors remain focused on whether AI growth will translate into sufficient cash returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet withdrew its Google Earth AI image-generation feature only one day after launch following criticism that fabricated imagery could spread misinformation. The quick reversal limits immediate product risk but raises questions about AI governance and rollout discipline. Google Earth AI feature withdrawn
• Negative Sentiment: The AI buildout is becoming increasingly expensive. Alphabet is targeting up to $205 billion in 2026 capital expenditures, while rising memory and infrastructure costs are pressuring cash flow and increasing future depreciation. AI buildout costs and cash flow
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider sales were small relative to the executives’ remaining holdings, but they provide a modest sentiment headwind. Separately, investor-law-firm investigations could create additional legal and reputational overhang. Alphabet director stock sale

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.