Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 327,355 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 20,256 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.1% of Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $102,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $1,096,289,000. Blalock Williams LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Blalock Williams LLC now owns 11,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,743,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 3,375 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,056,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,061 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Bank lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Essex Bank now owns 27,422 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,583,000 after buying an additional 2,575 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3%

GOOGL opened at $388.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company’s 50-day moving average is $334.65 and its 200 day moving average is $320.07. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.00 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.67, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is an increase 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 payout ratio is 6.41%.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google I/O showcase highlighted a broad AI push across Search, Gemini, Workspace, shopping, coding, and video tools, reinforcing expectations that Google can monetize AI rather than just defend against competitors. Google debuts new AI models, personal AI agents in effort to keep pace with OpenAI and Anthropic
• Positive Sentiment: Google and Blackstone announced a $5 billion joint venture to build AI cloud infrastructure powered by Google’s TPU chips, which could expand demand for Alphabet’s custom silicon and strengthen its enterprise AI ecosystem. Google, Blackstone to create new AI cloud company, WSJ reports
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analysts turned more constructive after I/O, with firms including BofA, KeyCorp, Citizens JMP, Needham, and others reiterating or raising targets, signaling confidence that Alphabet’s AI strategy is gaining traction. Alphabet analyst forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet said Gemini now has 900 million monthly users and AI Overviews has 2.5 billion monthly users, showing that its AI products are already operating at significant scale. Google kicks off I/O conference with AI upgrades for coders, consumers
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet also introduced new AI-powered search and shopping features, including agentic tools and a universal cart, which could open additional monetization opportunities. Google’s new Universal Cart wants to follow you across the entire internet
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider and shareholder sales were disclosed, including a director sale and a larger shareholder sale, but these appear to be routine filings rather than a clear signal of changing fundamentals. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Ofcom said YouTube and TikTok have not done enough to protect British children from harmful content, adding another layer of regulatory scrutiny for Alphabet’s YouTube business. TikTok, YouTube lag on UK child safety as rivals act, regulator says
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors worry that Google’s AI-heavy search redesign could pressure its core ad model by reducing reliance on the traditional “ten blue links” format. Google Search as you know it is over

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,187,638.65. This trade represents a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.38, for a total transaction of $9,859,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,674,560 shares in the company, valued at $508,028,012.80. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 226,481 shares of company stock valued at $27,422,061 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. CICC Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $388.00 to $407.91 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $390.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective (up from $395.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, President Capital raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $412.65.

Alphabet 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.