Cantillon Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Cantillon Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,715,061 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 500,173 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 7.1% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Cantillon Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,068,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Evercore upped their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. HSBC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $420.00 target price (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on Alphabet from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $419.86.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 196,931 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $3,832,277.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 600,465 shares of company stock valued at $16,228,202. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9%

GOOGL opened at $336.71 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.82 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.64, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $359.40 and a 200-day moving average of $339.14. The stock has a market cap of $4.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.24.

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 business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.15 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

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

About Alphabet

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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