King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 104,116 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management cut its Alphabet stake by 4.4%, selling 104,116 shares in the third quarter. It retained 2.24 million shares, valued at about $764.6 million at quarter-end.
• Institutional investors hold 27.26% of Alphabet; major holders BlackRock and State Street increased their positions, while King Luther reduced its stake.
• Alphabet’s latest quarterly EPS of $2.12 missed the $3.01 consensus, though revenue rose 24.7% year over year. Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with a $413.38 average target price.

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,243,833 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 104,116 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 3.2% of King Luther Capital Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. King Luther Capital Management Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $764,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,352,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 369,922,502 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $130,704,718,000 after acquiring an additional 5,164,200 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 190,923,442 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $67,458,980,000 after acquiring an additional 5,208,690 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 22.9% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 21,922,379 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,288,654,000 after acquiring an additional 4,083,758 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,313,729 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,117,460,000 after acquiring an additional 913,666 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are a few of the latest headlines about GOOG:

• Positive Sentiment: Google DeepMind introduced AlphaGenome 2, an AI model designed to help researchers interpret DNA and cellular activity. The launch highlights potential applications for Alphabet’s AI technology beyond its core businesses. Alphabet's DeepMind unveils new AlphaGenome 2 model
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s cloud growth and cash generation remain part of the investment case, but commentary also flags the cost of its AI infrastructure expansion as a risk to cash flow and returns. 3 Unstoppable Dow Stocks to Buy in November
• Negative Sentiment: A separate lawsuit seeking to halt frontier AI development could create uncertainty for Google’s AI plans if it leads to restrictions or additional compliance burdens. OpenAI, Google, Anthropic hit with lawsuit seeking halt to frontier AI development

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $365.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Alphabet from $440.00 to $435.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $400.00 price target (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $410.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $413.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at $6,494,424.20. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 247 shares of company stock valued at $79,238 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $295.35 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $271.41 and a 52 week high of $404.47. The company's 50 day moving average is $326.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $336.19. The company has a market cap of $3.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.01 by ($0.89). The firm had revenue of $127.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $127.97 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 43.33% and a net margin of 50.03%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet is a technology holding company whose primary business is Google. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google became part of Alphabet when the company adopted a holding-company structure in 2015. Sundar Pichai leads Alphabet and Google as chief executive officer. Google offers internet search, online advertising, cloud computing, and software and hardware products. Its services and products include Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and Google Cloud.

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