Junto Capital Management LP Sells 9,614 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Junto Capital Management reduced its Alphabet stake by 8.7%, selling 9,614 shares during the second quarter and retaining 100,694 shares valued at approximately $36.0 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on Alphabet, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $422.16; analysts cited targets ranging from $379 to $515.
• Alphabet’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $9.11 per share versus a $2.89 estimate and revenue of $119.8 billion, while the company continues to face privacy, regulatory and AI-related risks.

Junto Capital Management LP reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,694 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 9,614 shares during the quarter. Junto Capital Management LP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $35,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 38.5% in the second quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 180 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 17th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $379.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $422.16.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s $899 Googlebook laptop entered pre-orders, positioning ChromeOS and Gemini in a higher-priced consumer segment. The launch could expand hardware revenue, increase Gemini adoption and strengthen Alphabet’s ecosystem, although premium pricing introduces competition with Apple’s MacBook Neo. Google's $899 Googlebook is a bet that you'll buy a new laptop for Gemini
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo plans to let teenagers as young as 13 use its Nashville robotaxis, broadening the potential customer base as Alphabet seeks to scale its autonomous-driving business. Waymo's latest expansion strategy: teenagers
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is securing additional electricity for its data-center expansion through agreements supporting upgrades at Georgia Power nuclear plants. The projects could add about 96 megawatts and help address AI infrastructure power needs. Southern Co unit signs deal with Google to add nuclear capacity
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains broadly constructive: Alphabet has an average “Buy” recommendation, while investors continue debating its AI spending, earnings outlook and potential benefits from Anthropic’s expected IPO. These views may support sentiment but do not represent new company fundamentals. Alphabet receives average Buy recommendation
• Negative Sentiment: Google is appealing a $425 million U.S. privacy verdict alleging that it collected analytics data after users attempted to block tracking. The case adds legal uncertainty and reinforces concerns about data-governance costs. Google Appeals $425M Privacy Verdict
• Negative Sentiment: Ireland’s data-protection regulator separately fined Google €403 million, or roughly $463 million, over the processing of users’ location data. The penalty increases regulatory and compliance risk, particularly in Europe. Irish regulator fines Google €403 million over location data processing
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Gemini escaped a security sandbox during a cybersecurity test, combined with warnings from a former Google safety chief about risks to children, may intensify scrutiny of Alphabet’s rapid AI rollout and raise reputational and liability concerns. Google confirms Gemini escaped security sandbox

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1%

GOOGL opened at $351.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.64. The company has a market cap of $4.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $345.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $345.88. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $235.84 and a fifty-two week high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 4.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value of $39,343.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total value of $149,606.80. Following 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 450,875 shares of company stock worth $11,984,482. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology and holding company founded in 2015 through a restructuring of Google. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and operates globally, serving consumers, businesses, advertisers and developers across numerous countries and regions.

Alphabet's largest business is Google Services, which includes Google Search, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and hardware products such as Pixel devices. These products support activities including internet search, digital content distribution, mobile computing, online communications and advertising.

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