Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Sold by Waycross Partners LLC

Key Points

• Waycross Partners reduced its Alphabet stake by 3.5% in the first quarter, selling 9,165 shares and retaining 251,059 shares valued at approximately $72.2 million. Alphabet remains the firm’s second-largest holding and represents about 6.9% of its portfolio.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with a consensus “Buy” rating and average price target of $419.86. Alphabet recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $9.11 in EPS and $119.8 billion in revenue.
• Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, while investors continue to weigh strong AI and cloud growth against planned capital spending of up to $205 billion in 2026 and recent insider-share sales.

Waycross Partners LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 251,059 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 9,165 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 6.9% of Waycross Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Waycross Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $72,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Arete Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Pivotal Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 target price (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $395.00 target price (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $419.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total value of $2,232,808.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 600,465 shares of company stock worth $16,228,202 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $336.71 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $359.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $339.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $4.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.24. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.82 and a 1 year high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.15 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s latest quarter continued to support the long-term growth case: revenue rose 24% to $119.8 billion, Google Cloud growth accelerated to 82%, cloud operating income more than tripled, and its backlog reached $514 billion. Search revenue also grew 17%, easing concerns that AI tools are undermining the core advertising business. Alphabet quarter and valuation analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm is being supported by Alphabet’s potential to commercialize its internally developed AI chips, with initial external revenue reportedly expected by year-end. Analysts and value investors remain constructive; KeyCorp maintains an “Overweight” rating and a $445 target, while Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to “strong buy.” Alphabet AI silicon opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding its Play Signal age-assurance technology worldwide by the end of 2026, potentially strengthening Android’s safety tools and developer ecosystem. Waymo also began restoring freeway service, a sign of progress after earlier operational restrictions. Google age-assurance technology
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst estimates were mixed: KeyCorp raised its full-year 2026 EPS forecast substantially but trimmed quarterly and 2027 estimates slightly, while Erste Group lifted its 2027 forecast. This indicates strong near-term expectations but uncertainty about longer-term spending and profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: The main pressure remains Alphabet’s planned $195 billion–$205 billion of 2026 capital spending. Quarterly capital expenditures reached $44.9 billion and free cash flow turned negative, prompting investors to question whether AI infrastructure returns will justify the investment. Alphabet AI spending concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Additional risks include renewed fears that lower-cost AI models could pressure technology valuations, potential European private damages claims following Google’s $1 billion fine, and reports of a DeepMind research-team restructuring. Recent insider and major-shareholder sales are also a modest sentiment headwind, although they do not necessarily signal deteriorating fundamentals. Google European damages risk

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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