Markel Group Inc. Sells 52,025 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Markel Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 519,975 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 52,025 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.4% of Markel Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $178,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 238,977,259 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $85,403,303,000 after purchasing an additional 12,718,127 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Alphabet by 4.6% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 33,203,350 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,865,809,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457,371 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,724,321 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,334,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,631,721 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.1% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 17,079,800 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,911,467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 90.9% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,040,373 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,900,078,000 after purchasing an additional 8,112,680 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 target price (up from $465.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $325.00 price target (down from $385.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $417.00 to $371.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 30th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $332.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $412.51.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 247 shares of company stock worth $79,238 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Latest Alphabet News

Here’s some of the latest news about GOOGL:

• Positive Sentiment: An economist cited Alphabet’s search distribution, advertising business and ability to generate cash as reasons it may be well-positioned despite the AI sell-off. The view supports the case that established customer reach can help the company monetize AI. Is It Too Late to Buy the Dip? 3 Corners of the Market Still Offering Real Value
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is reportedly planning its first Hong Kong- and Singapore-dollar bond sale. The deal could diversify its funding, though investors may also watch how borrowing fits with already elevated AI infrastructure spending. Alphabet Eyes Bond Sales
• Negative Sentiment: A lawsuit against Google and other AI developers seeks to halt frontier AI development, creating potential regulatory and operational uncertainty. Separately, securities class actions allege investors were misled about Gemini development and disclosures; the allegations are not proven, but add legal overhang. Lawsuit Seeks to Halt Frontier AI Development

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $298.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $270.70 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $329.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $338.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by ($0.90). The company had revenue of $127.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 43.33% and a net margin of 50.03%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.81 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.59%.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc. is a technology holding company whose largest business is Google. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google became part of Alphabet when the company reorganized its businesses under the holding-company structure in 2015. Google’s products and services include Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Cloud. The company also generates revenue from digital advertising and offers devices, subscriptions and artificial intelligence products and services.