Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by First Eagle Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• First Eagle Investment Management cut its Alphabet stake by 56.7% in the second quarter, selling 679,315 shares and retaining 518,922 shares worth approximately $185.4 million.
• Alphabet reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with $9.11 in EPS and $119.8 billion in revenue, while analysts maintained an overall “Buy” rating and an average price target of $422.16.
• Alphabet’s outlook includes growth opportunities from AI chips, Google Cloud and Waymo, but higher interest rates, heavy AI infrastructure spending and new ad-tech restrictions remain risks.

First Eagle Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 56.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 518,922 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 679,315 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $185,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $277,696,000 after purchasing an additional 93,293 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $25,679,000 after buying an additional 2,269 shares in the last quarter. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $28,902,000. KLCM Advisors Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 66.1% during the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 22,877 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,161,000 after buying an additional 9,105 shares during the period. Finally, Elefante Mark B lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Elefante Mark B now owns 43,733 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,897 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $349.54 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $345.20 and its 200-day moving average is $344.91. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $235.84 and a 12 month high of $408.61. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Walker sold 8,998 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 450,875 shares of company stock valued at $11,984,482 over the last 90 days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI chip sales add a new revenue stream: Alphabet began recognizing revenue from sales of its internally developed AI chip systems in the second quarter. Investors may view the business as both a potential growth driver and a way to monetize Google’s technology infrastructure. 2 Stocks to Buy as Google Starts Selling Its AI Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst raises price target: Tigress Financial Partners increased its price target for GOOGL to $485, reflecting confidence in Alphabet’s Search, Cloud, YouTube, Gemini and custom-chip opportunities. Alphabet Price Target Raised to $485
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expands internationally: Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit plans to launch an all-electric robotaxi service in Singapore by 2028, strengthening the long-term investment case for Alphabet’s “Other Bets” portfolio. Waymo to Bring Autonomous Ride-Hailing to Singapore
• Positive Sentiment: Options activity signals bullish positioning: Investors purchased roughly 520,000 Alphabet call options, above typical volume, indicating increased speculative interest in further upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: Ad-tech ruling avoids a breakup but imposes restrictions: A federal judge ordered Google to share more auction data with publishers and appoint an antitrust monitor, but rejected a forced breakup. Avoiding structural separation limits the immediate risk to Alphabet’s advertising business, while the behavioral remedies could pressure operations and margins. Tech Watchdogs Criticize Google Adtech Ruling
• Negative Sentiment: Higher rates and AI spending remain risks: The Federal Reserve’s rate increase and Alphabet’s heavy investment in AI infrastructure could keep pressure on free cash flow and valuation, even as Cloud backlog and AI demand remain strong.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $425.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $445.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $422.16.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology and holding company founded in 2015 through a restructuring of Google. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and operates globally, serving consumers, businesses, advertisers and developers across numerous countries and regions.

Alphabet's largest business is Google Services, which includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and hardware products such as Pixel devices. These products support activities including internet search, digital content distribution, mobile computing, online communications and advertising.

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