Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock: Segment Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake

Key Points

• Segment Wealth Management cut its Alphabet stake by 2.1% in the third quarter, selling 1,891 shares; it retained 88,756 shares valued at about $30.5 million.
• Alphabet reported quarterly EPS of $2.12, below the $3.02 consensus, while revenue of $127.58 billion also narrowly missed estimates.
• Analysts trimmed several price targets, though the consensus rating remained Buy with a $412.51 target; the article also highlighted strong Google Cloud demand and a reported $561 billion backlog.

Segment Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,756 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,891 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.6% of Segment Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Segment Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Premier Financial Group bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Van Den Berg Management I Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 319.6% in the 1st quarter. Van Den Berg Management I Inc. now owns 214 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue more than doubled year over year in the latest quarter, and its reported backlog was about $561 billion, highlighting strong enterprise demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is in preliminary discussions related to the U.S. “Golden Dome” defense initiative. A contract could create a new, recurring revenue stream and help monetize its infrastructure investments, though no deal has been confirmed. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google plans to make its AI tools opt-in for K-12 students, responding to concerns from educators and policymakers. Reports that restricting AI could also limit Search have drawn political criticism, creating reputational risk while the company adjusts its school policies. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent earnings concerns continue to weigh on the outlook: Alphabet missed quarterly EPS expectations, Search growth slowed, and AI-generated results may produce less advertising revenue than traditional Search. ChatGPT’s search volume is also reported at roughly 20% of Google’s, underscoring competition for users. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy AI infrastructure spending pushed free cash flow negative, and management expects capital expenditures to rise further. That raises questions about when the investment will generate sufficient returns and may help explain continued pressure on the shares after earnings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms publicized an existing securities class action concerning alleged statements about Gemini 3.5 Pro training results. The repeated notices do not indicate separate new cases, but the litigation could add legal and reputational risk. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $325.00 price target (down from $385.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $460.00 to $400.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $425.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Alphabet from $410.00 to $380.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Yorkville Ives initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $412.51.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $280.03 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day moving average is $336.39 and its 200 day moving average is $339.61. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $270.70 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 14.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by ($0.90). The company had revenue of $127.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $127.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 50.03% and a return on equity of 43.33%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 7th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 4.59%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 247 shares of company stock worth $79,238. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GOOGL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report).

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.