Academy Capital Management Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Academy Capital Management cut its Alphabet stake by 4.1% in the second quarter, selling 6,639 shares and retaining 155,648 shares worth approximately $55.6 million. Alphabet remains the firm’s fifth-largest holding and represents 7.4% of its portfolio.
• Institutional sentiment was mixed, with several investors increasing their positions; institutions collectively own 40.03% of Alphabet. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $420.19, despite some recent downgrades to “Hold.”
• Alphabet reported quarterly revenue of $119.8 billion and EPS of $9.11, exceeding estimates, but investors remain focused on the company’s substantial AI spending. Capital-expenditure guidance of $195 billion–$205 billion for 2026 and negative second-quarter free cash flow have raised concerns about returns on its AI investments.

Academy Capital Management decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 155,648 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,639 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 7.4% of Academy Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Academy Capital Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $55,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. CFO4Life Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 27,287 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,752,000 after buying an additional 1,071 shares during the last quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.1% during the second quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 19,021 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,797,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493 shares during the last quarter. Krane Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% during the second quarter. Krane Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,194 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 1,570,599 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $561,285,000 after acquiring an additional 28,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, George Kaiser Family Foundation increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 186.6% during the second quarter. George Kaiser Family Foundation now owns 7,282 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,602,000 after acquiring an additional 4,741 shares in the last quarter. 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $440.00 price target (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $420.19.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue growth and expanding margins continue to support Alphabet’s AI investment strategy. Supporters argue that cloud growth—reportedly up 82% year over year—could eventually justify the company’s much higher spending. Google Cloud growth article
• Positive Sentiment: A federal judge rejected a forced breakup of Google’s ad-tech business, limiting the immediate structural risk to Alphabet. The company will instead face behavioral remedies, although the ad-network business recently contracted. Google ad-business ruling
• Positive Sentiment: New AI features in Gmail, Docs and Keep, along with continued Gemini development, could improve user engagement and strengthen Alphabet’s competitive position in generative AI. Rosenblatt also reaffirmed a buy rating with a $410 price target. Google AI product launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share on September 14 to shareholders of record on September 4, providing a modest income component but unlikely to materially change the investment case. Alphabet dividend article
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet raised 2026 capital-spending guidance to approximately $195 billion–$205 billion. Second-quarter free cash flow turned negative as capital expenditures reached $44.9 billion, raising concerns that AI infrastructure spending may take years to generate adequate returns. Alphabet cloud margins and AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also concerned about execution: Gemini 3.5 Pro reportedly remained delayed, while the company faces multiple securities-fraud investigations and continued scrutiny over its ad-tech practices. These issues add legal and competitive risk to an already expensive AI buildout. Gemini delay article

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $338.46 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $349.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $342.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.90 and a 52 week high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 451,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,371,544 in the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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