Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Studio Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Studio Investment Management reduced its Alphabet stake by 14.6% in the third quarter, selling 7,013 shares and retaining 40,987 shares valued at approximately $14.1 million. Institutional investors own about 40% of Alphabet.
• Alphabet’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, with earnings of $2.12 per share versus the $3.02 consensus and revenue of $127.6 billion. Heavy AI and data-center investment produced approximately $9.1 billion in negative free cash flow, contributing to a 12.6% stock decline.
• Despite lower price targets from several firms, analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and average target price of $412.82. Google Cloud’s more-than-doubled revenue and strong AI demand provided important positives.

Studio Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,987 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,013 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.4% of Studio Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Studio Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Titleist Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 34,613 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $11,909,000 after buying an additional 2,096 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $25,679,000 after buying an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. Elefante Mark B grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the second 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 during the period. Nwam LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 19.6% in the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 49,128 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $14,127,000 after acquiring an additional 8,055 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 287.4% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,886 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,063,000 after acquiring an additional 2,883 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,494,424.20. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 12.6%

GOOGL opened at $283.82 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. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $270.70 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The firm's fifty day moving average is $340.29 and its 200 day moving average is $340.43. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.02 by ($0.90). Alphabet had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 50.03%. The firm had revenue of $127.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.96 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.60 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $325.00 price objective (down from $385.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $405.00 price target (down from $425.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $417.00 price target (up from $411.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $412.82.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud delivered exceptional growth. Cloud revenue more than doubled year over year to approximately $30.7 billion, while its backlog reached $561 billion. The results indicate strong demand for Alphabet’s AI infrastructure and cloud services. Alphabet’s Cloud Business Just Doubled
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI ecosystem is gaining commercial traction. OpenAI reportedly plans to use Google’s custom TPU chips, and search query growth reached its strongest year-over-year pace in five years. These developments could support longer-term cloud, chip and AI revenue opportunities.
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive despite reducing targets. Guggenheim and Needham reaffirmed “buy” ratings, while RBC, Wedbush, KeyCorp, Susquehanna and Truist retained positive or outperform-equivalent ratings.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst expectations were reset lower. Multiple firms cut price targets, including RBC to $400, Wedbush to $387 and DA Davidson to $300, although most remained positive or neutral rather than bearish.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet faces several securities class-action notices concerning alleged disclosures about the development of its Gemini AI models. The lawsuits and lead-plaintiff deadlines add reputational and legal uncertainty, but their immediate financial impact is unclear.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet missed Wall Street’s quarterly expectations. Adjusted earnings were $2.12 per share versus roughly $3.02 expected, while revenue of $127.6 billion was slightly below forecasts. Search and other revenue grew 12% but missed estimates for a second consecutive quarter, and YouTube advertising revenue also fell short.
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending is pressuring cash generation. Alphabet reported approximately $9.1 billion of negative free cash flow as capital expenditures for data centers and AI capacity exceeded operating cash flow. Investors are questioning whether the spending will generate adequate returns and whether it could constrain buybacks or dividends. Alphabet earnings miss reflects first real sign that AI is taking a bite out of search
• Negative Sentiment: AI-powered search appears less profitable than traditional search, raising concerns that AI could disrupt Alphabet’s core advertising engine even as it increases user engagement.
• Negative Sentiment: An unrealized loss on Alphabet’s SpaceX investment and an EU antitrust fine further reduced reported earnings, amplifying the quarter’s bottom-line miss.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology holding company best known for its Google subsidiary. Google operates a global internet-services business centered on online search, digital advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and a broad range of cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools.

Google Cloud provides infrastructure, data analytics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software services to businesses, governments, and other organizations. Alphabet also develops consumer hardware, including Pixel devices and products for connected homes, while investing in emerging businesses through its “Other Bets” segment, including autonomous transportation and life sciences initiatives.

Alphabet was established in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring that made Google a subsidiary and provided a separate structure for its expanding portfolio of businesses.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.