Legal & General Group Plc Sells 546,634 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,212,257 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 546,634 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.8% of Legal & General Group Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.30% of Alphabet worth $13,298,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 180 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson set a $350.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Arete Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $420.19.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $330.65 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $347.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $343.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $235.84 and a one year high of $408.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.22.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.42%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google announced plans to invest at least €13 billion ($15 billion) in Finnish data centers and AI infrastructure over the next two years—its largest-ever European investment. The facilities are expected to support Gemini, Search, Maps and YouTube, while a power agreement with Fortum, including nuclear energy, may help address AI’s substantial electricity needs. Google to invest $15 billion AI infrastructure in Finland
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud and Accenture launched a joint unit deploying 1,000 engineers to help companies implement AI agents. The initiative could accelerate enterprise adoption of Google’s cloud and AI services and improve monetization of Alphabet’s infrastructure spending. Google Cloud and Accenture AI deployment deal
• Positive Sentiment: Co-founder Sergey Brin is taking a more active role in advancing Gemini, signaling increased founder involvement as Alphabet seeks to strengthen its position in the AI race. Sergey Brin takes bigger role in Google AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts continue to cite Alphabet’s strong return on invested capital, balance sheet and rapidly growing Google Cloud business as long-term strengths. However, the stock’s valuation is being assessed alongside its expanding AI infrastructure commitments.
• Negative Sentiment: The scale of the Finland and broader AI buildout increases capital expenditures and is pressuring free cash flow, creating uncertainty about when the investments will generate sufficient returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s launch of the paid Muse AI agent raised concerns that autonomous assistants could bypass traditional search results, weakening Alphabet’s search advertising model. Higher Treasury yields are also weighing on high-multiple technology stocks. Meta Muse AI agent pressures Alphabet
• Negative Sentiment: Google warned that EU-mandated changes to its European search results could reduce search quality, increase costs for businesses and potentially affect user engagement. Google warns of lower-quality European search results

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value 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. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544 in the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Alphabet

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.