GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. Invests $1.76 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,628 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,762,000. Alphabet comprises 0.2% of GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Thryve Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $920,000. KW Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. KW Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,450 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. MidFirst Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $47,832,000. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 25,642 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,026,000 after purchasing an additional 5,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ketron Financial acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $20,470,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Phillip Securities boosted their target price on Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $460.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,293,309.12. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 160,516 shares of company stock worth $7,344,604 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is being viewed as a major AI winner thanks to ongoing investment in AI infrastructure and data centers, which could support future cloud and AI revenue growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Berkshire Hathaway nearly tripled its Alphabet position may be seen as a strong vote of confidence from a major long-term investor. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage emphasizing Alphabet’s strong earnings and expanding Google Cloud backlog supports the case for continued fundamental improvement. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s stock is drawing increased investor attention and analyst commentary, but these are mostly sentiment-driven mentions rather than new company-specific catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Noam Shazeer, a top Google DeepMind/Gemini AI leader, is leaving for OpenAI, underscoring the competitive AI talent war. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: John Jumper is also departing Google DeepMind for Anthropic, adding to concerns that Alphabet may be losing key AI researchers. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo’s recall of nearly 3,900 robotaxis after construction-zone driving errors raises safety and regulatory concerns for Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle business. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The UK ordering Google to improve search-ranking transparency highlights continued regulatory scrutiny over its core search business. Article Title

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $368.48 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $367.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $331.95. The firm has a market cap of $4.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.00 and a 1-year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. 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 issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio 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.