Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Stock Position Lessened by Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Castle Rock Wealth Management cut its Alphabet position by 12.4% in the third quarter, selling 3,799 shares and retaining 26,786 shares worth approximately $9.23 million.
• Institutional ownership remains significant, with hedge funds and institutions holding 27.26% of GOOG. Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $421.95.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, including $119.8 billion in revenue and $9.11 in earnings per share, while its Gemini AI expansion supports future growth; however, insider selling and proposed securities litigation remain potential risks.

Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,786 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,799 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.8% of Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,352,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings 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 position 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 purchasing an additional 5,208,690 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in Alphabet by 38,409.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 508,718 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google introduced a Gemini Agent designed to autonomously complete workplace tasks across Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Calendar, Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Jira and other business systems. The product could strengthen Google Cloud and Workspace monetization by giving enterprise customers a reason to increase AI spending. Google brings agentic AI to Gemini, starting with businesses
• Positive Sentiment: Employees are reportedly testing an even more advanced Gemini 4 model, internally codenamed Carbon. While unconfirmed and not yet a commercial launch, the report reinforces expectations that Alphabet remains competitive in the rapidly evolving AI market. Google employees test new Gemini 4 model
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and financial commentators continue to view Alphabet as attractively valued relative to Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Apple and Netflix. The company is growing rapidly while trading at a lower earnings multiple, supporting the argument that the stock has room to recover toward prior highs. Is Alphabet stock priced right against its peers?
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI infrastructure strategy is expanding through long-term power and data-center investments, including reported Nordic buildouts and nuclear and microgrid arrangements. Securing reliable electricity could help address a major constraint on future AI and cloud capacity.
• Neutral Sentiment: GOOG benefited from broader technology-sector strength, with gains in major holdings helping lift the SPY and QQQ exchange-traded funds. This provides market support but is not a company-specific catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: A reported increase in short interest showed zero shares outstanding and a zero-day days-to-cover ratio, an internally inconsistent data point that offers no reliable trading signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms are promoting a securities class action alleging that Alphabet misled investors about Gemini development and AI issues during the May 19–July 16 class period. The lawsuits could create legal costs and reputational risk, although the announcements themselves do not establish liability. Rosen Alphabet securities class action announcement

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the 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 sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 441,399 shares of company stock valued at $8,677,053. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 target price (up from $475.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $417.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Citic Securities upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $430.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $421.95.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $347.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $342.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $346.76. The company has a market cap of $4.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.19. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $236.68 and a 52-week high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th were paid a $0.22 dividend. 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 (DPR) is currently 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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