Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Stock: Baskin Financial Services Inc. Trims Holdings

Key Points

• Baskin Financial Services trimmed its Alphabet stake by 2.7% in the third quarter, selling 7,460 shares and retaining 266,449 shares valued at approximately $90.8 million. Alphabet remains the firm’s second-largest holding, representing 7.3% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet shares opened at $336.40, down 1.1%, with a market capitalization of about $4.11 trillion. The stock trades at a P/E ratio of 16.90 and remains below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: six rate Alphabet “Strong Buy” and 34 rate it “Buy,” producing an average price target of $421.85. The company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, while institutional investors collectively own 27.26% of its stock.

Baskin Financial Services Inc. decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 266,449 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,460 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 7.3% of Baskin Financial Services Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Baskin Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $90,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.8% in the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 105,988 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,449,000 after buying an additional 13,700 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 298.2% in the 2nd quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,229 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,854,000 after acquiring an additional 16,647 shares in the last quarter. Montchanin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $7,075,000. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,489 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,773,000 after acquiring an additional 3,575 shares during the period. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $1,277,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

GOOG opened at $336.40 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day moving average is $340.64 and its 200-day moving average is $350.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $244.67 and a 1-year 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 company has a market cap of $4.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 16.90, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.19.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $6.24. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm's revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at $6,494,424.20. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 402,479 shares of company stock valued at $7,946,534 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Evercore upped their target price on Alphabet from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Moffett Nathanson reduced their target price on Alphabet from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $450.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities began coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $421.85.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cloud and AI-chip growth could support an earnings beat. Bank of America expects Alphabet’s third-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings to modestly exceed Wall Street forecasts, citing expanding Google Cloud capacity and strong demand for Alphabet’s custom TPU chips. Analysts remain broadly constructive, with several firms maintaining buy or overweight ratings. Alphabet's Cloud Growth, TPU Sales Could Drive Q3 Upside
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is expanding its AI ecosystem. Google released TorchTPU as an open-source PyTorch project, potentially making it easier for developers to use Google’s chips and reducing Nvidia’s software advantage. Google is also bringing a more personalized Gemini assistant to vehicles, which could deepen user engagement and ecosystem adoption. Google has joined Amazon in attacking Nvidia's stronghold
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo provides longer-term growth potential. Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit plans to launch robotaxi service in Madrid in 2027 and reportedly aims to expand its fleet to 20,000 vehicles by the end of next year. The initiatives offer potential diversification beyond advertising and cloud services. Waymo to launch autonomous ride-hailing in Madrid
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s valuation continues to attract investors. Commentators describe GOOG as one of the more reasonably valued “Magnificent Seven” stocks, while recent institutional filings show additional purchases by some large funds. These signals may support the shares but are not immediate earnings catalysts. Amazon vs Alphabet
• Negative Sentiment: A Google Cloud outage disrupted U.K. banks and financial applications. Although services were largely restored, the incident highlights reliability and concentration risks as Google Cloud becomes more important to critical infrastructure. Google Cloud services largely back up in UK
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about AI capital spending. Expectations for heavier infrastructure investment, potentially weaker free cash flow and pressure on margins could overshadow strong revenue growth ahead of the October 28 earnings report. A broader AI-stock sell-off is adding to the pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms publicized a securities-fraud class action. The litigation alleges Alphabet misrepresented the timing or progress of its Gemini 3.5 Pro model. The announcements may weigh on sentiment, although the financial impact remains uncertain. Alphabet securities-fraud lawsuit

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known as the parent organization of Google. Founded in 2015 through a corporate restructuring, Alphabet oversees Google and a collection of businesses focused on technology, online services, communications, artificial intelligence, and other emerging areas.

Google's principal products and services include its internet search engine, digital advertising platforms, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and Google Workspace. The company also provides cloud computing, data storage, cybersecurity, productivity, and artificial intelligence services through Google Cloud.

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