Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Stock: Courier Capital LLC Decreases Position

Key Points

• Courier Capital LLC cut its Alphabet position by 95.9% in the third quarter, selling 64,221 shares and retaining 2,720 shares valued at approximately $927,000.
• Despite the reduction, major institutions including BlackRock and State Street increased their Alphabet holdings; institutional investors collectively own 27.26% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with an average “Buy” rating and a $421.95 price target. Alphabet recently exceeded earnings expectations, reporting $9.11 in quarterly EPS and $119.8 billion in revenue.

Courier Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 95.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,720 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 64,221 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $45,352,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 5,164,200 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 190,923,442 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $67,458,980,000 after acquiring an additional 5,208,690 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,643,262,000 after acquiring an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,595,622 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,693,281,000 after acquiring an additional 508,718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated 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. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $435.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. China Renaissance dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $485.00 to $445.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $421.95.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google launched Gemini 4 Argon for developers, businesses and paying users, highlighting capabilities in coding, finance and legal work. The release may reassure investors that Alphabet is keeping pace in the competitive frontier-AI market. Reuters article on Gemini 4 Argon
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst said Alphabet’s internally developed AI chips could create as much as $100 billion in value by 2028, adding to the investment case as investors assess AI infrastructure spending and Google Cloud growth. Benzinga article on Alphabet AI chips
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet and Unity announced Unity Spark, an AI-powered platform intended to let users create games through natural-language prompts. The initiative could expand Alphabet’s AI ecosystem and reach millions of nontechnical creators. Yahoo Finance article on Unity Spark
• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas raised its price target on Alphabet, reflecting continued optimism about cloud expansion, AI monetization and the company’s long-term earnings outlook. TipRanks article on Alphabet price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Google Play now supports private, AI-generated Android applications, while a new Fitbit product and health-related partnerships broaden Alphabet’s consumer ecosystem. These initiatives are strategically positive but are unlikely to materially affect near-term earnings. TechCrunch article on private Google Play apps
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms publicized a securities-fraud class action against Alphabet concerning alleged misrepresentations about the development schedule and training setbacks for Gemini 3.5 Pro. The lead-plaintiff deadline is generally December 1, 2026. The announcements repeat allegations and do not establish wrongdoing, but they could weigh on sentiment and create potential legal costs. PR Newswire article on Alphabet securities lawsuit

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 441,399 shares of company stock valued at $8,677,053. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $349.52. 14,406,512 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,307,688. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $342.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $347.52. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $241.18 and a 1 year high of $404.47. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.54 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

Alphabet Company 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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