Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stake Lowered by Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd.

Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 98,250 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 8,672 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 4.1% of Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Buffalo Business & Estate Services Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $416,217,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $277,696,000 after buying an additional 93,293 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 274,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $86,000,000 after acquiring an additional 23,107 shares during the period. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $28,902,000. Finally, Private Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,736,000 after acquiring an additional 2,678 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. China Renaissance increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price objective (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total value of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,132,701. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 151,523 shares of company stock valued at $4,863,526. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive on Alphabet’s growth outlook, pointing to rising advertising revenue and AI-driven ad tools as support for further upside. Alphabet Benefits From Rising Advertising Revenues: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Alphabet is joining the Dow were viewed as a sign of prestige and long-term institutional support for the stock. Google Parent Alphabet Is Joining the Dow. Time to Buy?
• Positive Sentiment: Apple is reportedly paying Alphabet about $1 billion a year to use Gemini in Siri, highlighting another monetization path for Google’s AI platform even if the deal is smaller than Google’s search-payment arrangement with Apple. Apple Is Paying Google $1 Billion a Year for AI. Here’s Who the Real Winner Is.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush said the recent sell-off in major AI names looks more like short-term investor impatience than a breakdown in the AI trade, suggesting the broader pullback may be a buying opportunity. Wedbush brushes off tech sell-off as buying chance in multi-year AI bull run
• Neutral Sentiment: Google Finance launched a new app and upgraded portfolio-tracking features, which improve the product offering but are unlikely to move the stock on their own. Google Finance Debuts App and Investment Tracking Capabilities
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet is facing renewed concern over AI talent departures, including reports of senior researchers leaving for rivals such as Anthropic and OpenAI, which raises questions about execution in Gemini and its broader AI strategy. Alphabet Shares Fall After Report on Further AI Talent Departures
• Negative Sentiment: Google is also drawing criticism for tougher negotiations with publishers over AI content access, potentially worsening relations with media partners already seeing traffic declines from AI search changes. Google looks to bleed publishers with new AI partnerships that would cull their content
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say AI-focused stocks, including Alphabet, are under pressure as investors question whether the “all-in on AI” trade has gone too far in the near term. PLTR, GOOG and MSFT Forecasts – AI Names Struggling at the Moment

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $337.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $368.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $332.88. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $171.73 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

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.