Caxton Associates LLP Sells 238,995 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Caxton Associates cut its Alphabet position by 95.3% in the first quarter, selling 238,995 shares and retaining 11,736 shares valued at approximately $3.38 million.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with an overall “Buy” consensus and an average price target of $419.86; several firms recently raised their targets to between $400 and $450.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, including $119.8 billion in revenue and $9.11 in adjusted EPS, while investors continue to weigh its AI and Cloud growth against rising capital expenditures and infrastructure costs.

Caxton Associates LLP trimmed its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 95.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,736 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 238,995 shares during the quarter. Caxton Associates LLP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $390.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $375.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $445.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $419.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $3,832,277.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 600,547 shares of company stock worth $16,255,540 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s custom Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) are increasingly viewed as credible alternatives to Nvidia chips. That could reduce Google’s dependence on external suppliers and create a potential external chip-revenue opportunity. Alphabet and Amazon custom AI chips
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlights Alphabet’s record quarter, strong Google Cloud growth, Gemini adoption and enterprise AI demand. Analysts and value-focused investors continue to view GOOGL as comparatively inexpensive among large technology and AI companies. Alphabet AI investment and valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Google is reportedly supporting a $15 billion Anthropic data-center project with chips and financial guarantees, while Oracle is expanding its partnership to bring Gemini models to enterprise applications. These initiatives could drive Google Cloud demand and strengthen Alphabet’s AI ecosystem. Anthropic data center backed by Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s reported quarterly earnings and revenue beat consensus estimates by wide margins, supporting the fundamental case, although investors remain focused on whether AI growth will translate into sufficient cash returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet withdrew its Google Earth AI image-generation feature only one day after launch following criticism that fabricated imagery could spread misinformation. The quick reversal limits immediate product risk but raises questions about AI governance and rollout discipline. Google Earth AI feature withdrawn
• Negative Sentiment: The AI buildout is becoming increasingly expensive. Alphabet is targeting up to $205 billion in 2026 capital expenditures, while rising memory and infrastructure costs are pressuring cash flow and increasing future depreciation. AI buildout costs and cash flow
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider sales were small relative to the executives’ remaining holdings, but they provide a modest sentiment headwind. Separately, investor-law-firm investigations could create additional legal and reputational overhang. Alphabet director stock sale

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $356.13 on Monday. The business's fifty day moving average is $357.79 and its 200 day moving average is $339.35. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.82 and a 12-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 stock has a market cap of $4.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.42%.

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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