Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Gamco Investors INC. ET AL

Key Points

• Gamco Investors reduced its Alphabet stake by 6.8% in the second quarter, selling 3,772 shares and retaining 51,623 shares valued at approximately $18.4 million.
• Alphabet reported quarterly revenue of $119.8 billion and EPS of $9.11, exceeding analyst expectations. Shares opened at $338.46, while analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $420.19.
• Alphabet’s outlook is supported by strong Google Cloud growth, new AI features and a ruling that avoided an ad-tech breakup, but investors remain concerned about rising AI infrastructure spending, legal scrutiny and delays to Gemini developments.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,623 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 3,772 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL's holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,524,841,000 after purchasing an additional 4,008,374 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $45,625,595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,676 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $21,630,861,000 after buying an additional 3,218,852 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $338.46 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $349.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $342.87. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.90 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 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 issued its quarterly 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 analysts' expectations of $117.07 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 4.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Zacks Research lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. New Street Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $420.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $420.19.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue growth and expanding margins continue to support Alphabet’s AI investment strategy. Supporters argue that cloud growth—reportedly up 82% year over year—could eventually justify the company’s much higher spending. Google Cloud growth article
• Positive Sentiment: A federal judge rejected a forced breakup of Google’s ad-tech business, limiting the immediate structural risk to Alphabet. The company will instead face behavioral remedies, although the ad-network business recently contracted. Google ad-business ruling
• Positive Sentiment: New AI features in Gmail, Docs and Keep, along with continued Gemini development, could improve user engagement and strengthen Alphabet’s competitive position in generative AI. Rosenblatt also reaffirmed a buy rating with a $410 price target. Google AI product launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share on September 14 to shareholders of record on September 4, providing a modest income component but unlikely to materially change the investment case. Alphabet dividend article
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet raised 2026 capital-spending guidance to approximately $195 billion–$205 billion. Second-quarter free cash flow turned negative as capital expenditures reached $44.9 billion, raising concerns that AI infrastructure spending may take years to generate adequate returns. Alphabet cloud margins and AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also concerned about execution: Gemini 3.5 Pro reportedly remained delayed, while the company faces multiple securities-fraud investigations and continued scrutiny over its ad-tech practices. These issues add legal and competitive risk to an already expensive AI buildout. Gemini delay article

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 451,925 shares of company stock worth $12,371,544. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.

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