Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Bought by Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.

Key Points

• Richards Merrill & Peterson increased its Alphabet stake by 8.6% in the third quarter, adding 2,208 shares to reach 27,870 shares valued at approximately $9.59 million. Alphabet now represents about 2.8% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Institutional investors own 40.03% of Alphabet, with several major funds—including State Street, Arrowstreet, and Amundi—also increasing their positions. Insiders, however, sold roughly 315,765 shares worth $6.3 million over the past three months.
• Alphabet reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with $9.11 in earnings per share and $119.8 billion in revenue. Analysts remain broadly bullish, with an average “Buy” rating and a $425.04 price target, while Google Cloud and AI demand are viewed as key growth drivers.

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,870 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,208 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.8% of Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. State Street Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 238,977,259 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $85,403,303,000 after acquiring an additional 12,718,127 shares during the period. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 28,950.0% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,291,926 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,671,986,000 after purchasing an additional 9,259,940 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 90.9% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,040,373 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,900,078,000 after purchasing an additional 8,112,680 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 12.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 31,745,979 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,128,850,000 after purchasing an additional 3,574,810 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $1,058,385,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total value of $2,232,808.20. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 315,765 shares of company stock valued at $6,297,980. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud and AI demand remain key bullish factors. Coverage highlights accelerating Google Cloud growth, expanding demand for AI infrastructure, and Alphabet’s Gemini models and in-house chips as potential drivers of future revenue and margins. OpenAI’s decision to make its models available through Google Cloud could also increase enterprise cloud usage. OpenAI to bring AI models to Google's cloud
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts see substantial upside. Bullish commentary points to strong search and cloud fundamentals, a lower valuation than many large technology peers, and potential upside if Alphabet demonstrates that AI spending is translating into durable growth. TikTok’s reported shift of advertising toward YouTube may provide an additional, though smaller, benefit. Alphabet could still have room to run
• Positive Sentiment: Citizens JMP maintained an outperform rating. The firm lowered its price target from $515 to $450, but the revised target still implies considerable potential appreciation from current levels. Banking giant cuts Google stock price target

Alphabet Trading Down 3.1%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $324.22 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $251.85 and a 52 week high of $408.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $343.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $353.04. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.60 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $445.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 8th. 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 note on Monday, September 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $485.00 price objective (up from $415.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $425.04.

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.

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