Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 758,195 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,258,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 758,195 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.4% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Alphabet worth $2,736,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Corsicana & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $54,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total transaction of $9,640,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,304,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $683,642,180.16. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 2,064,308 shares of company stock worth $104,383,469 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $305.72 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $275.51. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $349.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 7.77%.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and AI/cloud growth — Alphabet exceeded EPS and revenue expectations, Cloud revenue jumped ~48% and backlog expanded materially, supporting longer-term revenue and monetization from AI products. Alphabet’s Pullback: A Second Chance for Long-Term Investors?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism — Several firms raised price targets on GOOGL (noted lifts to $375 and $380), reflecting continued confidence in growth and upside vs. the recent pullback. Price Target Raised to $375 Price Target Raised to $380
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expansion — Waymo is deploying next‑gen Ojai robotaxis and using gig workers for door-closing operations, signaling commercial progress in autonomous mobility (long-term revenue optionality). Waymo begins deploying next-gen Ojai robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong bond demand—but guardrails questioned — Alphabet’s recent global bond sale drew very strong demand (underscoring investor confidence), while commentary noted limited contractual protections for bondholders on a long‑dated issuance. This is liquidity/market-confidence positive but raises structural concerns for fixed‑income holders. Alphabet bonds’ lack of guardrails highlights investor confidence
• Neutral Sentiment: Century‑bond debate — Heavy demand for a 100‑year sterling bond signals long-duration appetite (positive for funding flexibility) but prompts caution about untested long‑dated issuance. Why Alphabet’s 100-year sterling bond is raising new fears Bond investors are betting on another 100 years of Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data appears unreliable — Reports show sudden increases but list zero shares and NaN changes (likely a data glitch); not a confirmed signal of rising short pressure. (internal short‑interest entries)
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust probe into search ad auctions — European regulators are investigating Google’s ad-auction practices and pricing, which could lead to fines, operational constraints in Europe, or forced changes to ad platform mechanics. Google targeted by EU over its search advertising auction practices Google hit by fresh EU antitrust probe
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and AI arms‑race fears — Alphabet’s large 2026 CapEx outlook (~$175–185B) and the broader AI infrastructure spend among hyperscalers have raised investor concern about free‑cash‑flow strain and near‑term margin/return pressures; that theme contributed to short‑term selling after earnings. Alphabet Drops 7% Post Q4 Earnings Mag 7 AI Arms Race: Heavy CapEx, FCF Strain
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness — Coverage notes that several mega‑cap tech names have softened (Magnificent Seven pressure), which amplifies selloffs in high‑multiple names like GOOGL even when fundamentals remain strong. Amazon Joins Microsoft in Bear Market

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price target (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Alphabet from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, President Capital raised their price objective on Alphabet from $323.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $361.64.

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.