Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Sold by WealthPlan Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• WealthPlan Investment Management reduced its Alphabet stake by 7.5% in the third quarter, selling 6,069 shares and retaining 74,385 shares valued at approximately $25.3 million.
• Other major institutions, including BlackRock, State Street and Amundi, increased their Alphabet holdings; institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 27.26% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $422.10. Alphabet recently exceeded earnings and revenue estimates, though investors are monitoring heavy AI infrastructure spending and potential litigation risks.

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,385 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 6,069 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.2% of WealthPlan Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 369,922,502 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $130,704,718,000 after purchasing an additional 5,164,200 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 190,923,442 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $67,458,980,000 after buying an additional 5,208,690 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,595,622 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,693,281,000 after buying an additional 508,718 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,048,456 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,918,805,000 after buying an additional 517,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 22.9% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 21,922,379 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,288,654,000 after buying an additional 4,083,758 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target to $425 from $420 and maintained an Overweight rating. The firm cited sustained Google Cloud growth and Alphabet’s ability to remain competitive in artificial intelligence. Alphabet Stocks Rise as JPMorgan Lifts Target on Cloud Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet continues to generate positive AI momentum. Gemini 4 Argon reportedly scored highly on accounting and enterprise benchmarks, while Google demonstrated a quantum-computing technique that could reduce errors significantly. These developments support the company’s positioning against OpenAI, Anthropic and other rivals. Gemini 4 Argon Accounting Benchmark
• Positive Sentiment: New commercial initiatives—including Google’s Universal Cart shopping tool, a multiyear AI partnership with CNN and potential YouTube audiobook offerings—could broaden monetization across Search, Gemini and YouTube. Google Universal Cart Launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are looking ahead to Alphabet’s upcoming earnings, with analysts generally bullish on AI and cloud growth. However, the company’s substantial data-center and AI infrastructure spending raises questions about near-term free cash flow and returns on capital. Alphabet Q3 Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms are promoting a securities class action alleging that Alphabet failed to disclose disappointing Gemini training results. The repeated notices and December lead-plaintiff deadline create a reputational and potential litigation overhang, although they do not represent new operating results. Alphabet Securities Fraud Lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Google warned that suspected China-linked hackers may exploit a vulnerability in BeyondTrust software, adding cybersecurity and trust concerns. Separately, renewed fears over stretched AI valuations and competition for digital advertising could limit further gains. Google Warns of BeyondTrust Exploitation Risk

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and cut their target price for the company from $450.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $425.00 target price (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alphabet from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $422.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares in the company, valued at $9,125,015.20. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 420,865 shares of company stock valued at $8,293,477 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $344.91 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $244.67 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $341.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $348.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.54 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 presently 4.42%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent company of Google. Established in 2015 through a corporate restructuring, Alphabet oversees Google and a collection of businesses focused on technology, innovation and emerging industries. Sundar Pichai serves as Alphabet's chief executive officer and also leads Google.

Google is Alphabet's primary business and operates an internet ecosystem that includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Photos.

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