Argent Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Argent Capital Management reduced its Alphabet position by 3.6% in the third quarter, selling 23,043 shares and retaining 609,347 shares valued at approximately $209.7 million. Alphabet remains the fund’s third-largest holding at about 1.5% of its portfolio.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with $9.11 in earnings per share and $119.8 billion in revenue, exceeding analyst estimates. The stock traded near $345, while analysts maintained a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $425.60.
• Several insiders sold shares during the quarter, including director Frances Arnold, while Alphabet paid a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share. Institutional investors own approximately 40.03% of the company.

Argent Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 609,347 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 23,043 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.5% of Argent Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Argent Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $209,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 238,977,259 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $85,403,303,000 after purchasing an additional 12,718,127 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,394,474 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $14,208,470,000 after buying an additional 208,362 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 38,106,033 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $11,927,189,000 after buying an additional 583,078 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.6% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 33,203,350 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $11,865,809,000 after buying an additional 1,457,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 29,166,806 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,129,210,000 after buying an additional 478,848 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the business'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 owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. The trade was a 0.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 441,399 shares of company stock valued at $8,677,053. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $1.82 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $345.32. 7,993,732 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,829,584. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $344.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $348.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $235.84 and a 12 month high of $408.61.

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 return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson set a $350.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $425.60.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google unveiled Gemini 4 Argon, an enterprise-focused AI model designed to perform complex, multistep work in software engineering, cybersecurity, finance, and legal services. A stronger product could support Google Cloud growth, subscriptions, and competitive positioning against OpenAI and Anthropic. Tech Bytes: Google unveils Gemini 4 Argon as AI race shifts to autonomous work
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlights Google Cloud’s rapid expansion, a substantial backlog, and Alphabet’s ability to monetize AI through cloud contracts, advertising, and paid subscriptions. Alphabet’s operating income reportedly rose 30% year over year in both first-half 2026 quarters, supporting the bullish case for continued earnings growth. Prediction: Alphabet's Profit Growth Carries It to $5 Trillion Before 2028
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s investment in Anthropic could benefit shareholders if a potential IPO provides liquidity or increases Anthropic’s ability to purchase computing capacity, potentially benefiting Google Cloud and other AI infrastructure suppliers. 4 Major Winners From an Anthropic IPO
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet executives are scheduled to testify at a New York City Council hearing on AI risks. The event may increase visibility for Google’s AI efforts, but could also foreshadow additional compliance requirements. AI risks hearing
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s capital expenditures reportedly doubled year over year to $44.92 billion in the second quarter, raising concerns that AI infrastructure spending could pressure free cash flow and shareholder returns before the investments generate sufficient profits. Alphabet Reported Negative Free Cash Flow
• Negative Sentiment: Google faces a proposed £1 billion U.K. consumer claim alleging that Play Store commissions of up to 30% violate competition law. An adverse outcome could create financial liability and add to Alphabet’s broader regulatory burden. Google faces UK Play Store legal claim

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is a technology and internet services company best known as the parent company of Google. Its primary business, Google Services, includes online search, digital advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and a range of hardware and subscription products.

Alphabet also operates Google Cloud, which provides infrastructure, data analytics, cybersecurity, productivity software, and artificial intelligence services to businesses, governments, and other organizations.

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